Learning Through Opening Up

Abstract

This section analyzes China’s process of opening up in the past four decades. It argues that the Chinese economy has been integrated into the global economic system and achieved economic upgrading in the process while mitigated the shocks of globalization and revived “Chinese Detroits,” which benefited not only China but also the world economy. We summarize two economic lessons from China’s experience of opening up in the past four decades. First, learning from advanced market economies through entrepreneurs, laborers, and government officials is essential for economic upgrading. Second, to achieve effective and sustainable learning, the process of opening up must be carefully managed and paced. In other words, opening up in one fell swoop will not bring long-term growth and prosperity to an economy.