By Luciana Bigliante
Director of Asociación de la prensa Uruguaya, Uruguay
For a long time, observing from Uruguay, I struggled to fully comprehend the “China miracle.” Western media, particularly influential economic outlets, often interpret it through cold statistics: growth rates, urbanization pace, export volumes, and investment scales, frequently overlooking the humanistic dimensions, regional characteristics, and cultural heritage integral to China’s rise.
However, visiting China revealed that the “China miracle” is neither abstract magic nor mere wealth accumulation. It is, rather, a strategic design that organically connects tradition with modernity. Supported by meticulous planning, China’s development strategy focuses not only on production efficiency but also places cultural preservation, identity formation, and environmental protection at its core.
Nanchang: Steel and Memory
As the capital of Jiangxi Province, Nanchang holds significant importance in the modern and contemporary history of China. It is recognized as the birthplace of the People’s Liberation Army and is also a burgeoning industrial hub for heavy machinery, power engineering, and transportation technology.
Touring Nanchang’s industrial parks, I was impressed not only by the vast scale of industry but also by its precise organization. Automated large-scale factories, hyper-connected logistics zones, and manufacturing plants are interspersed with green spaces, clearly conveying a development philosophy of “pursuing production without destruction, and pursuing growth without plunder.”
Furthermore, Nanchang meticulously preserves cultural spaces like historical sites, temples, and classical gardens. Revolutionary tradition, industrial development, and heritage conservation coexist harmoniously here. This demonstrates that modernization does not necessitate a break from history but can involve an active redefinition of identity.
Jiangxi: Agrarian Tradition and Green Innovation
Jiangxi Province, where Nanchang is located, is undergoing a transition from depending on traditional agriculture towards new economic drivers like technological innovation, green economy, and cultural tourism, reflecting a broader developmental approach.
Historically known for its rice paddies, lakes, and mountains, Jiangxi carries millennia-old traditions in ceramics, calligraphy, and traditional Chinese medicine. In recent decades, it has also emerged as a hub for innovation in environmental technology, solar energy, and eco-material processing.
A notable feature of Jiangxi’s development is how modernization takes root in local communities. In rural areas, digital agriculture optimizes production efficiency without dismantling family-based farming models. New ventures like pottery workshops, organic farms, and eco-cultivation experiences often originate from the grassroots level. Sustainability has become a core part of production without needing explanation.
Fuzhou: A Cultural Gateway in the Southeast
Fuzhou presents another example of China’s integration of industry, tradition, and cultural tourism. This port city has served as a vital nexus connecting China with Southeast Asia since ancient times and continues to play a crucial role in the Belt and Road Initiative promoted by the Chinese government.
Fuzhou excels in industrial sectors like electronics, shipbuilding, and high-tech industries, with its free trade zone and logistics platforms having a global reach. However, this outward orientation has not erased its cultural foundations. Sanfang Qixiang, a historic district preserving the original appearance of architecture in the Ming and Qing dynasties, has attracted numerous visitors drawn by its rich culture and history.
Tourism, Modernization, and the Art of Balance
The development trajectory of China reveals that tourism is no longer merely a commercial activity but is deeply integrated into strategic development, playing a key role in strengthening national identity, creating employment, and fostering cultural confidence.
Visitors gain not just visual enjoyment but an immersive experience incorporating local festivals, artisan workshops, guided tours of ancient villages, and exhibitions on ecological innovation. This model of tourism does not ignore regional distinctions but focuses on local characteristics, transforming them into unique value.
Tourism also serves an educational function, demonstrating to Chinese citizens that what development needs is not homogenization. Each province possesses its own dialects, historical narratives, and development pace, and the Chinese development model actively protects this diversity.
Conclusion
China’s practice demonstrates that development is achievable through meticulous planning, strategic vision, and respect for cultural specificity. The Chinese cities I visited are not only exemplars of industrial development but also civilizational models that cherish cultural heritage, safeguard ecology, and pursue collective well-being.
The “China miracle” is not merely about astonishing economic data or record-breaking infrastructure development speed. Its true essence lies in building “a modernization with a solid foundation”, which means achieving an economic transformation that integrates history and environment into the blueprint for the future, rather than erasing them.
For external observers like me, who were once influenced by fragmented perceptions, delving into the reality of China is profoundly enlightening. China has not only achieved development but has also protected, honored, and perpetuated its cultural roots. This is the true meaning of the “China miracle.”
*The views and opinions expressed in the articles are solely those of the individual authors and do not reflect the position of the Secretariat of the Belt and Road Journalist Network.