French students are taking to the streets in search of teachers and quality education, while the United Kingdom’s National Health Service faces mounting pressures amid the expansion of market-oriented reforms. Young people are grappling with unemployment, low wages, marginalisation and exploitation. Democratic protests are increasingly met with legal threats, possible imprisonment and heavy-handed policing. Protests and riots are growing across parts of the developed Western capitalist world, where democratic deficits, economic alienation, rising living costs and the marginalisation of working people expose deep-seated problems within capitalist societies. Meanwhile, propaganda against socialism as a potential alternative continues to grow.
As part of this anti-socialist campaign, China has become a particular target. The author argues that hostility towards China serves to obscure the achievements of its socialist development over nearly eight decades. Much of the criticism directed at China is ideologically driven, seeking to undermine the achievements of the Chinese people and their revolutionary political project. Sinophobia, however, cannot erase the contributions of the hardworking, creative and committed Chinese people under the leadership of the Communist Party of China (CPC).
What has China achieved over nearly eight decades, and what lessons might the rest of the world draw from its experience?
Under the leadership of the CPC, China has made substantial progress in reducing poverty, overcoming underdevelopment and improving living standards. Its approach also includes measures to prevent households from falling back into poverty. The 15th Five-Year Plan (2026–2030) seeks to strengthen these poverty-prevention mechanisms and consolidate earlier gains.
According to figures cited from China's Ministry of Education, the number of people with higher education qualifications reached 270 million by September 2026. The gross enrolment rate in higher education stood at 61.3%, with 48.73 million students enrolled in tertiary education. Preschool enrolment reached 92.9%, while participation in nine-year compulsory education stood at 96.1%. The Chinese government allocates a substantial share of public expenditure to education, reflecting its emphasis on developing human capabilities as a foundation for social and economic progress.
China's 15th Five-Year Plan for Educational Development (2026–2030) focuses on expanding access to quality education, integrating technology into learning and aligning educational programmes with industrial development. Such an approach seeks to create a skilled and creative workforce capable of supporting China's continuing transformation. The plan envisages adding more than 100,000 undergraduate places between 2026 and 2030, including 24,000 in 2026 and a further 76,000 between 2027 and 2030. This approach reflects the Chinese government's view of educational expenditure as a social investment rather than merely a financial cost.
Healthcare and elderly care are other areas in which China's development model offers lessons worth examining. While Western capitalist countries debate assisted dying, personal autonomy and the meaning of a dignified death, China emphasises the provision of healthcare and the collective responsibility of caring for older people. Under its 15th Five-Year Plan, the country aims to increase life expectancy from 79.25 years in 2026 to 80 years by 2030.
China has also reported improvements in several key health indicators. Maternal mortality has fallen to 13.4 deaths per 100,000 live births, while infant mortality has declined to 3.8 deaths per 1,000 live births. Its healthcare system encompasses more than 1.1 million healthcare institutions and a medical workforce of approximately 16.12 million people. These figures illustrate the scale of the country's healthcare infrastructure and the importance attached to public health. The Chinese approach treats investment in healthcare as an investment in people's well-being and productive capacities.
From poverty reduction and rising disposable incomes to modern communications, roads and transport networks, China has undergone a profound transformation. Its advances in science and technology, space and underwater exploration, artificial intelligence, research and innovation have expanded its economic and technological capabilities. The country has also developed extensive international trading networks and financial arrangements that contribute to its growing role in the global economy.
These achievements raise an important question: how have China, its people and the CPC built an economy and society that have moved beyond widespread poverty and underdevelopment while continuing to pursue prosperity and modernisation?
The answer, from the CPC's perspective, lies in the political principles guiding the party and the state. Chinese President Xi Jinping has repeatedly emphasised that the party's purpose is to serve the people and respond to their needs and aspirations. He has called on party members and leaders to remain committed to the CPC's founding mission, uphold their ideals and carry forward its revolutionary traditions. This vision presents the party as the vanguard of the Chinese working class, with a responsibility to place people's welfare at the centre of governance.
These principles are also reflected in the revised Constitution of the CPC, adopted by the party's 20th National Congress on 22 October 2022. The revisions sought to reinforce the party's political direction and its objective of building a modern socialist country in all respects. They also emphasised organisational discipline, political accountability and the principle of democratic centralism, under which party organisations at the grassroots level form an integral part of the party's overall structure.
The CPC's political model rests on the claim that a strong, organised party can coordinate national development, mobilise resources and pursue long-term social objectives. Its supporters argue that this approach has enabled China to undertake large-scale programmes in poverty reduction, infrastructure development, education, healthcare and technological innovation. They also contend that the party's emphasis on collective welfare provides an alternative to economic systems in which private profit and market competition play a dominant role.
The comparison between China and Western capitalist democracies, however, involves more than differences in economic priorities. It also raises questions about political participation, individual freedoms, public accountability and the relationship between the state and society. While China's development record provides important evidence of what sustained public investment and long-term planning can achieve, its political system and the restrictions on dissent within it remain subjects of international debate. Assessing China's experience therefore requires examining both its social and economic achievements and the broader institutional context in which they have occurred.
Nevertheless, China's experience challenges the assumption that market-led capitalism is the only viable route to modernisation and prosperity. Its emphasis on long-term planning, public investment, poverty reduction, education, healthcare and technological development offers important questions for governments around the world. What would happen if more countries treated education and healthcare as essential social investments rather than commodities? Could sustained public planning help address inequality, unemployment and the insecurity experienced by working people? And could development policies be judged more consistently by their impact on ordinary people's lives rather than by economic growth alone?
These questions are particularly relevant at a time when many societies face rising living costs, widening inequalities and growing public dissatisfaction. Governments that prioritise corporate interests while neglecting essential public services risk deepening economic alienation and undermining public confidence in democratic institutions.
The lesson to be drawn from China is not that every country should reproduce its political system or development model in its entirety. Rather, its experience invites the world to reconsider the relationship between the state, the economy and social welfare. China's achievements in poverty reduction, infrastructure, education, healthcare and technological advancement demonstrate the significance of sustained investment and coordinated development. At the same time, meaningful evaluation must consider the challenges and limitations of its approach.
Ultimately, the central question is whether economic and political systems can meet people's basic needs, expand opportunities and improve their quality of life. China's experience offers a significant case for examining how socialist planning and state-led development can contribute to these goals. For countries struggling with inequality, insecure employment and deteriorating public services, the debate should not be about dismissing China through ideological hostility, but about understanding its experience, evaluating its outcomes and identifying lessons that can be adapted to different social and political contexts.
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*Academic based in UK
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