Key Public Sector Challenges: Innovation in Chinas Public Sector for Good Governance - Case Study Example

Key Public Sector Challenges: Innovation in China’s Public Sector for Good Governance Name Number Institution Course Code Instructor Date Introduction China has emerged as a strong economy in the past decades backed by its resilient and thriving economy. Having attained the second largest economy edging out Japan in 2010 and is expected to emerge as the largest economy by 2020 (Chen and Goodman, 2012). China has stood out as an excellent example for analysis in respect to nations that have progressively transitioned to state functioning backed by good governance. The sustained economic growth in China has not come by surprise, but rather is a culmination of increased innovation, excellent policy formulations and governance planning to improve economic growth, social and human development and reduce levels of poverty (Jing and Osborne 2017). The positioning of the nation globally has seen it strategically take charge of financing extensive development projects in the world especially in Africa gaining extensive capacity to impact on the global economy. However, the excellent growth in the nation has been achieved out of successive and strategic planning and implementation of measures for economic growth. This essay critically looks into the Chinese innovative nature to improve public sector and governance policy. The paper looks into the financial reforms that have taken place in China since the Deng Xiaoping. Based on the extensive nature of the topic of public sector management and implementation of growth, the essay will narrow down to innovation and how it has impacted on the overall Chinese public sector proliferation and growth. The analysis will also evaluate the challenges faced by the Chinese successive government to achieve the current success and what measures were put in place for effective implementation. Finally conclude with lessons that can be deduced from the case study by other states under quest to transform their public sector through innovative and efficient management. China’s Turnaround China’s emergence as a dominant economy with successive improvement in access to quality basic public services and increased reduction in poverty levels pose a strategic question of the lessons to be deduced in the study o public management. Reforms are imminent in times of change and China took off in the late 1970s with a strategic aim to raise its economic growth (Naughton 2007). Structures and strategies were put in place but the turnaround was experienced in 1992. Deng Xiaoping steered the reform process by proposing acceleration of economic growth which was later backed by the national Congress of the Communist Party of China (Chow 2004). This resulted in china being established as a socialist market economy with the aim of setting China on a path of becoming a transitioning market economy. The reforms put in place by China involved the four-character policy ‘gaige kaifang’ which was a reform economic system and an opening policy of the Chinese nation to the outside world (Jing & Osborne 2017). These measures were aimed at reforming the nation by addressing some of the mistakes made during the Mao era. China experienced thirty years of continuous, rapid economic growth which was unprecedented in the global history. The reforms by China since 1978 has generally succeeded in reforming the systems of governance, market and dismantling the Soviet style of central planning bringing up communism that has propelled the giant economy (Zhou 2008). The reforms have resulted in rapid economic growth with statistics indicating an average of 9.7% economic growth between 1980 and 2009 (Zhao 2010). Nevertheless, a substantial population of the People’s Republic of China remains desperately poor making it a state still under reform to improve the livelihood of every Chinese. In 2010, the GDP of China accounted for 9.3% of the overall global output to surpass that of Japan and become the second largest economy in the world (Montalvo & Ravallion 2010). China also transformed at the same time from being an agricultural-based, centrally planned economy to emerge as an industrialised, market oriented economy. By 2011, the Chinese urban population had exceeded the 50% mark overtaking the rural population for first time in the history of China (Jing & Osborne 2017). This rapid economic growth and development coupled with changing of lifestyles saw a tremendous reduction of poverty that cannot be ignored. This is due to the fact that the proportion of the poor population earning less than a dollar daily reduced substantively from 73.5% in 1981 to merely 8.1% in 2005 (Naughton 2007). This saw china contribute to 96% of the world’s population that was lifted from poverty during period. Reforms in the Public Service Public similarly achieved significantly to raise the level of public service. In 1978, the central government took the step of transferring the delivery of public service to the local authority from the central government (Naughton 2007). The transfer of responsibilities saw the decentralisation of services ensuring all citizens had access to public service promoting efficiency. This culminated in the public service being positioned as a key component in the national development in 1990 by also reflecting on the government collaborative roles, market and the civil society contribution (Zhou 2010). These public service delivery measures saw China achieve tremendously in the public service with a good example involving the full achievement of the second millennium development goal (MDG) on primary education access. Similarly, between the years 1991-2007, infant mortality in China reduced from 50.2% to 15.3% with the mortality rate for children aged below five reducing from 61% to 18.1% (Naughton 2007; Chen & Goodman 2012). These reductions in infant and under-five mortalities coupled with improved education access propelled China into an all round progressing economy with tremendous achievement globally. China has continuously restructured its public service with programs like the Rural Cooperative Medial Scheme, Minimum Living Standards Guarantee Scheme among other programs to uplift the living standards of the Chinese general populace (Jing & Osborne 2017). These social and economic reforms have brought about substantive transformations with excellent results in poverty reduction and lifestyle improvements. These achievements have been evaluated especially by the developing world to learn critical steps for embracing economic growth and poverty reduction (Chow 2004). However, the Chinese transformative strategy has been unique making it not able to transform elsewhere. For example, the political stability experienced in China has been backed by the Communist Party of China has been in power for the past nine decades (Chen & Goodman 2012). This has favoured the regime in long term strategic planning and uninterrupted implementation of laid out strategies. Other factors that has favoured Chinese growth involve the cultural homogeneity in the country, lack of multiparty politics and strategic convenience of Taiwan and Hong Kong which are off shore conduits of foreign investment, as well as offering harmonious assimilation of private sector led, market oriented policies into the socialist political nature of the nation (Montalvo & Ravallion 2010). Thus, the nation has presented structures of growth in the public sector with support to the private sector for improved and sustained economic growth. Lessons from the Chinese Public Management and Economic Transformation Every economic growth case study presents extensive lessons, but the Chinese economic growth has presented strategic lessons for the developing world (Zhao 2010). Based on its diverse nature and great population, the way China has transformed its public service management and transformed national economic growth offers incisive lessons. Three features arise in respect to China’s experience involving the scale of China and the possibilities offered by a larger internal market. Thus, countries with bigger populations like India in Asia, Nigeria and Ethiopia in Africa have substantive lessons to learn from (Jing & Osborne 2017). Secondly, is the emergence of new industry based on labour intensive development after state socialism and backed on capital intensive development , as well as maintenance and restructuring of the hierarchical authoritarian system of Chinese governance to promote public service (Chen and Goodman, 2012). Another lesson that can be deduced from the Chinese case study is that good governance is a premise to effective development and economic growth. With good governance, sustained economic growth is realised, social and human development becomes a reality and poverty reduction becomes a national pride. Increased improvement of the living standards is a key goal for any government and public sector management labours to ensure increased efficiency, economic growth and improved service delivery to all citizenry (Jing and Osborne 2017). Nevertheless, it is crucial to note that several developing nations have had similar advantages like China with little results in the public sector reforms. For example, the Republic of Tanzania in Africa is a good example of a nation which embraced similar political nature since independence in 1962 (Chen & Goodman 2012). With diverse natural resources and direct access to the Indian Ocean, the country has all it takes to be a transformed economy and public service entity. With tribal and religious harmony as the Chinese cultural harmony, Tanzania is unique unlike many African nations (Chen & Goodman 2012). Nevertheless, the outcome in respect to social and human development, poverty reduction fail to even be compared to whatever nature to what China has achieved so far. In conclusion, it is apparent that China has presented extensive lessons in line with public sector transformation, economic growth, social and human development all backed by critical and strategic system implementation. The public sector plays a pivotal role in the lives of all subjects within a nation and the subsequent growth, transformation and efficiency in the public sector management impacts directly to the general populace. The splendid public sector transformation in China embraced alongside economic and human development has positioned the country as a case study for many to learn from and tap substantive lessons. China gives great lessons on how to manage resources, maintain its population and ensure increased economic growth in the global changing dynamics. Reference List Chen M & Goodman D 2012, The China Model: One Country, Six Authors, Journal of Contemporary China, vol. 21, no. 73, pp. 169-185. Chow GC 2004, Economic Reform and Growth in China, Annals of Economics and Finance, vol. 5, pp. 127-152. Jing Y & Osborne S (Eds.), 2017. Public Service Innovation in China: Governing china in the 21st Century, Hong Kong: Palgrave. Montalvo B & Ravallion M 2010, The Pattern of Growth and Poverty Reduction in China, Journal of Comparative Economics, vol. 38, pp. 12-16. Naughton B 2007, The Chinese Economy, Cambridge: MIT Press. Zhao S 2010, The China Model: Can it replace the Western Model of Modernisation? Journal of Contemporary China, vol. 19, no. 65, pp. 419-436. Zhou T 2008, China Administrative System Reform, Shanghai; People’s Press. Read More