By Feng Zhaokui (China Daily)
Updated: 2007-11-29 07:22

In his report to the 17th National Congress of the Communist Party of China (CPC), held in Beijing last month, General Secretary of the CPC Central Committee Hu Jintao said emphatically that the theme of the congress is "to hold high the great banner of socialism with Chinese characteristics, follow the guidance of Deng Xiaoping Theory and the important thought of Three Represents, and thoroughly apply the Scientific Outlook on Development".

It was on this occasion the "Scientific Outlook on Development" was officially written into the CPC Constitution.

As Hu pointed out, the birth of the scientific outlook on development had not only been based on our own experiences in national development but also included learning from other countries' experiences in development as well.

In the 1980s, when the emphasis was on development, China gave a great deal of attention to learning from the experiences of the fast economic growth of post-war Japan.

As a researcher in Japanese economy at that time, I personally experienced the wave of "learning from Japan" that swept across the nation.

But as China's economy maintained fast development while Japan struggled to get itself out of a decade-long slump in the 1990s, the loud calls for "learning from Japan's experiences" in the Chinese media gradually faded into a whisper.

Such pleas gave way for longing for US economic prosperity fuelled by the information technology revolution, as well as its lifestyle and consumerism.

Among some "people get rich earlier" and a lifestyle of luxury was gaining popularity. Many young Chinese changed their dreams from Japanese-style small houses and small cars to American-style big houses and big cars.

However, in terms of natural resources, land resources, population, and age, China cannot be compared with the United States.

It is believed that if the 1.3 billion Chinese all consumed freely as the Americans do, there would not be enough resources even had the Earth been three times bigger; if we insisted on consuming like Americans when our per capita water and other natural resources are far below the world's average, a widening gap would appear between the rich and poor people, and regions.

It was against this backdrop that some wise people in our society called for rationality, and that we should not emulate the American way of life.

Compared with the US, both Japan and China have deficient natural resources. Japan more so.

Because of lack of resources and a dense population, Japan became the first Asian nation not only to achieve fast economic growth but also suffered from the constraints of scarce resources, environmental destruction and an aging population.

From environmental pollution, widening disparities, insufficient resources, aging population, and even complacency triggered by fast economic growth we have experienced so far, Japan has already lived through all such growing pains in its development.

Therefore, it is of great significance in our efforts to apply the Scientific Outlook on Development that we learned from Japan's lessons as well as experiences in overcoming all kinds of problems arising from fast economic development.

I believe it is necessary to examine Japan's experiences and lessons in post-war economic development from the following eight aspects:

How did Japan handle the problem of widening disparities in income, between regions as well as between urban and rural areas as its economy grew fast in the post-war era? And how did it achieve a harmonious situation characterized by "a majority of 100 middle-class" when most of the Japanese think they belong to the middle class?

As a country extremely short of natural resources, how did Japan turn this into dynamism in "exploring brain power", especially its experience in becoming top in energy-saving technology and management?

Japan's fast economic development did lead to serious public hazards triggered by environmental pollution, such as the Minamata disease (mercury poisoning) and asthma caused by air pollution in Tokyo.

However, generally speaking, the country has done a remarkable job in protecting and improving the environment. So many Chinese people who have been to Japan admire the country most for its "cleanness".

Japan's experience and lessons in focusing on environmental protection besides production and consumption deserve our attention.

On one hand, Japan put a lot of emphasis on universal education in an effort to raise the nation's civic awareness. On the other, Japan still faces many problems in moral cultivation, with education under heavy fire in particular.

The country today realizes its failure to educate the young, who are born to relatively rich families, to be thrift and diligent.

As Japan's crime rate has kept rising in recent years, the media screams "domestic homicide cases skyrocketing", some food companies sell outdated products by changing expiration date labels, corruption scandals are also on the rise, prompting Democratic Party Chief Ichiro Ozawa to say that a "moral crisis" is facing Japan. But what exactly is behind and at the heart of all this?

After the World War II, Japan went all out to import and digest advanced technologies from other countries.

Large enterprises all worked hard to come up with their "own technology" and most of the medium and small companies also spent decades in developing "unique skills" of their own and even created some world-leading technological marvels, which served as a key driving force behind Japanese products' competitiveness in the international market.

However, as the country's economy matured, many Japanese entrepreneurs who put "research and development" as their core value now worry about their successors.

Many observers now wonder whether Japan can maintain its edge in manufacturing technology and what effective measures it will take to avert the predicament.

During the process of Japan's economic development and people's income rising, many Japanese stuck to being thrift instead of pursuing a luxurious lifestyle or excessive consumption.

Does this mean that a nation's consumption level should not only depend on its productivity but also on conditions such as resources and population?

Despite being influenced tremendously by the individualism prevailing in American culture, the Japanese people have managed to sustain a kind of collectivism.

What kind of role does this "team spirit" play in the country's economic and social development? And how should we handle the relationship between collectivism, or "team spirit", and cultivation of personality and talent?

Japan's population is aging as a result of longer life expectancy brought by economic growth and higher living standards.

An aging population means that a rising percentage of people are entitled to pension and growing medical costs, which will put a heavier financial burden on the country and will decrease benefits brought by economic growth.

It deserves the attention of China, which is showing signs of "aging before being well-off", as to how Japan, which has become an aging society far ahead of China, entered the "fantastic circle of economic growth" and what measures the Japanese are taking to deal with it.

The author is a researcher with the Institute of Japanese Studies at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences

(China Daily 11/29/2007 page11)