In 1954 and 1964, the contemporary phase of China’s modernization drive took off with its adoption of the Four Modernizations policy: advancements in agriculture, industry, defence, and science and technology. Together, these sectors complement one another to cover a comprehensive range of key priority areas, with all of them focused on national economic development. Later, China’s modernization covered more areas including those situated between the four main original sectors.

The national modernization process is a vast undertaking that needs to cover several key sectors from the start. It cannot involve too few sectors because that would be ineffective. It also cannot cover too many sectors at once because that would dilute the efforts and resources needed to achieve them by spreading them too thinly. To be practical and certain of success, a manageable number of the most important sectors need to start the process. Once this has been established, other sectors can be developed as well. This has been the way in China’s modernization for more than 50 years now.

A crucial factor is the complementary relationship between the sectors being modernized. They must help one another rather than obstruct or limit the modernization of the other sectors. Harmony in working together is important and not just a slogan, because synergy is vital. No sector must develop at the expense of another because the country as a whole needs to progress and modernize.

As it is with the different sectors in the country, so it is with different provinces in China and the different countries in Asia. The Belt and Road Initiative is an example of joint development through cooperation to ensure modernization and prosperity. All the provinces and all the countries involved should benefit, although not to the same degree. It would be unrealistic to expect everyone to benefit at the same rate all the time. What is important is that everyone has a fair share of the benefits, and nobody loses just for another province or country to gain. Harmonious development allows for smooth and steady modernization.

When the opposite happens, serious problems result. Some negative US experiences serve as an example that other countries should learn from by avoiding them. For many years, the US economy had been dominated by a few sectors like the auto industry and the oil industry ("Big Oil"). The domination by these industries came at the expense of other US industries, resulting in their underdevelopment and insufficient modernization. The influence of the powerful auto industry on US government policy resulted in the absence of any high-speed rail system. The US has the world’s biggest economy but remains the only developed industrial society without any high-speed rail network to cover the great distances in the country.

The influence of the powerful US oil lobby on government policy resulted in the slow development of the US electric vehicles (EV) sector. Decades ago, the US already had a head start in early EV technology. But to protect the selfish interests of Big Oil, EV technology was suppressed. Ideas were ignored and pioneers were sidelined. It is only in recent years that US EV technology started to develop.

Other countries should learn from such negative experiences to avoid them. No country can modernize fully and rapidly if it allows one or two sectors to protect their selfish interests by preventing the development of other sectors. As a rule, a country’s development and modernization can risk having one industry grow too much at the expense of other industries and even threaten the safety of society as a whole. This happens when there is a lack of regulation on pure profit-making and a weak sense of social responsibility in the industry.

China has not made such mistakes in its modernization drive because it places the larger national interest above narrow sectoral interests of any particular industry. People’s personal mobility for economic growth is important, so transportation infrastructure has been modernized including in Xinjiang and Tibet. Air pollution is a problem and oil has to be imported for industry and transport fuel, so EVs were rapidly developed. Countries can modernize and develop more successfully if they allow pragmatism in government policies to serve national interests as a whole, rather than just the narrow interests of specific industries that work against other sectors.

China is providing the world with new opportunities through its own development. The world economy is recovering but its foundation is still very fragile. Developing countries and emerging economies still face many difficulties. How China is helping them, and its role in the international system.

Even as China has serious challenges of its own to address, many other countries would hope that China can continue to cooperate constructively with them over a range of issues. Cooperation through mutual consultation is the more appropriate way in the 21st century. This is also the more effective and successful way. China showed its willingness to work with other countries in this way at the Second Summit of the Belt and Road Initiative in 2019 when all the participating countries consulted one another.

The older way based on colonialism and the Cold War as practised by the West has one superpower at the centre and a group of allies all agreeing to follow it. Even though each country may have its own national interests on an issue, they have to suppress those national interests to follow the superpower leader. This creates ill-feelings and resentment internally, as can be seen in the Ukraine crisis and Western policies against Russia. The differences between Europe and the US are beginning to show.

Most countries prefer to work collectively with goodwill towards each other, based on common national aspirations. Only this can ensure maximum national commitment for the fullest international cooperation to ensure success through effective teamwork.

The modern world of today consists of sovereign countries which can make independent decisions of their own. They can also choose to work with any other country of their choice while expecting equality and mutual respect from the major powers. They have no wish to return to the old and outdated alliance relationships of the Cold War.

Bunn Nagara is an honorary Fellow of the Perak Academy, Malaysia.