China can be daunting for the expat. Although Chinese people in general are very welcoming, the mistrust of foreigners in official rhetoric and issues that arise in our encounters with bosses and officialdom often make us wonder if China is worth it. Yes, we gripe. And yes, oftentimes it's entirely warranted. But are we being entirely fair to do it all the time? Just this once, let's buck the trend, pat backs, blow trumpets, grab the dove of peace by the throat and give credit where credit is due by highlighting some of the ways in which China is, in fact, improving.

1) Beijing 2008
Yes, I know, been there, done that, old news... but a reminder of the roaring success of the 2008 Beijing Olympics is perhaps timely as an introductory, not least for the impact those few weeks had on China's attitude toward "opening up" in policies that continue to this day. China opened its doors to the wider world with both alacrity and empathy, putting on a brilliant show and dealing with a huge influx of foreigners with care, concern and consideration, ultimately demonstrating that it can indeed "get it right". In order to do that and do it well, some less-than-foreigner-friendly laws were repealed. The old idea that suspicious foreigners had to be confined to foreigner hotels was ditched and foreigners were allowed to stay in any hostelry available (however cases of being turned away still sporadically arise, particularly outside the capital). In addition, the foreign press no longer found itself shackled to minders suspicious of what they may report. Although it was widely expected such laws would be reinstated when the games ended, they were not. In fact, in October 2008, the laws for the foreign press were actually reinforced, with the government's own guidelines now stating: "To conduct news coverage and reporting activities in places which are open to foreigners, foreign journalists do not need to apply to the local FAOs." This represents a huge step forward from former days when journalists had to be accompanied by minders and have any interviews they conducted officially approved. Clearly the temporary opening up of 2008 had longer-lasting resonances that have led to a greater level of openness.

2) Politeness
When I first came to China in 2000, I found myself bemused by all the barging that went on.
People unable to form queues or just blatantly ignoring them. People shoving their way onto buses made some sort of sense when seats were limited, but I could never understand them shoving their way off again. Were they afraid there would be no room on the pavement? Again, the Olympics had the government acknowledging that perhaps something should be done about this. In Beijing, "queuing police" were sent out to organise the rabble. It was hard going. A friend of mine reported seeing one of them in action. I asked her if it worked. 'Oh yes,' she said. 'For about five seconds.' But perhaps something rubbed off. In recent years, I've noticed more and more people hanging back to allow others onto the bus or the subway car, and supermarket queue-bargers, fewer and further between, seem to be given short shrift these days. Moreover, through the media, the government took great pains to teach the entire population some basic English phrases and these days, even if the speaker knows little or nothing else of the language, you will frequently find small encounters on the street or while out shopping peppered with ‘Excuse me', ‘Please', ‘Thank you', ‘You're welcome' and other small touches of homely regard offered with a hesitant smile.  It certainly changes the atmosphere.  Just a single word can transform an otherwise wordless encounter into something that has a much more personal touch.

3) The Internet
In 2000 I had a hard time convincing my first foreign affairs' officer that I needed a connection to the Internet to maintain contact with friends and family back home. To him, the Internet seemed a luxury. That is hardly surprising; at the time, World Bank figures put the number of Chinese users of the net at under 2% of the population. Today, it is unthinkable that the facility wouldn't be provided for foreign employees.  In China the Internet has gone from being a technical curiosity to a necessity of life in little over a decade with nearly 50% of the population using it regularly and the number of Chinese language users set to overtake the number of English language users by 2015.  Rapid growth in user numbers aside, obvious difficulties still exist with actual usability. It's frustrating when you try to open a perfectly innocuous web page only to find that it's blocked. And yes, Internet censorship is still incredibly rife here. However, it's far from total. There are many sites that could be readily blocked—certain Western media resources that are not always complimentary about China come to mind—but to which we continue to have free access anyway. Although the government is inclined to distrust foreign websites over which it has no control, and it still censors Chinese sites, the sheer quantity of information being published is, in reality, far too great for it to continually monitor. Consequently, certain developments suggest that it is also beginning to lay focus on working with the online community. A good example is the Strengthen the Nation Forum (强国论坛), a bulletin board of the People's Daily (and reputedly one of Hu Jintao's favourite sites) that invites Chinese citizens to openly discuss their ideas and concerns including issues of government policy. On its end, the government finds comments (and criticisms) on government initiatives a useful tool for identifying areas of concern and discontent before they develop into greater problems.

4) Poverty alleviation
The United Nations Development Programmestates that, in China, "… both national and international indicators show that the number of people living in extreme poverty has been halved" over the past 30 years. The World Bankestimates that 600 million Chinese have been taken out of poverty. Full refrigerators have replaced empty larders and the government's Poverty Reduction Officehas been set up specifically to deal with wealth and opportunity redistribution. Since 1990, reforms have brought unemployment and medical insurance, workers' compensation insurance, maternity benefits and communal and individual pension funds and accounts. Steps are being taken to ensure a decent education for all and to make healthcare more readily available for those least able to afford it. While it's important to acknowledge continuing issues, such as the rich-poor gap, poverty in isolated rural areas and the rise of a new urban poor underclass, still, taking that many people out of poverty in just three decades is an undeniable achievement.

5) Creativity
Ironically, this is an area in which the government takes little credit for itself, but perhaps it should. A few years ago I visited an undergraduates' art exhibition at the Sichuan Fine Arts Institute and was amazed by the variety and experimentation I found there: mischievous, amusing and thought provoking sculptures, paintings which combined traditional and modern techniques in a fascinating fusion of styles. These works were all distinctively Chinese, but decidedly grounded in the modern day. Attending Guilin's first 'Rock Festival' in Seven Stars' Park a number of years ago, I expected to find myself bored by ballad-obsessed crooners, but instead was confronted by everything from punk and post-punk bands to a guy with a laptop computer sending inhuman growls and squeals out through the PA in a sound so avant garde I doubt the park's monkeys came down from the hills for a week afterwards. Okay, sure, you're not going to see this on CCTV or hear it extolled in the media. And on the whole the government would probably prefer things a little more tame and conservative; but perhaps they're missing a trick here. If young people have the time and the cash to buy cameras and musical instruments and are thinking outside the loop enough to be able to create fresh, new and original art, haven't they been able to do that in an environment that government has helped create for them?

6) Self Criticism
In recent years, the government has increasingly acknowledged corruption as a major problem, publicly identifying it as a major cause of the public's distrust. The number of corrupt officials being prosecuted is burgeoning, with recent high-profile cases leading to the prosecution of Bo Xilai demonstrating that Beijing is serious about punishing corruption. In 2010, the government introduced a new ten-year plan for education that acknowledges the deficiencies of a government-run education system and seeks to increasingly incorporate the private sector. The plan calls for moving away from traditional "rote learning" techniques and into areas of personal development and individual attainment to help foster innovation and creative thinking. It is also clear that there is a debate within the Party as to the direction it should be taking. China is no longer governed by a party led by a single charismatic leader who holds sway over all decision making. And the CCP is, of necessity, diversifying in its views as to how best to lead the nation.  What may be regarded as infighting may also be seen as a healthy debate as China moves forward to become an increasingly important player on the world stage. There is much that needs to be resolved but less and less of what needs resolution is being kept out of the public eye. Self-criticism has started; the debate is on.

But of course...

There are counter-arguments to much of the above and cynical twists that can be laid upon all of it if you are so inclined. Critics will no doubt charge on to the comments section below and attempt to refute everything. But just as the Sinophiles discredit themselves with overstatement about how everything in China is wonderful, so the Sinophobes do themselves a disservice. China can't be getting everything wrong and, clearly, it isn't. Credit where credit is due, perhaps?
 

Related links
Baby Steps in Educational Reform: University Hires "Foreign" Vice-Chancellor
Closer to Labour Reform? China's First Successful Collective Bargaining Case
China Speaks: Politicians, Businessmen and Academics Voice their Opinions on Weibo (Part 2)

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Keywords: China social reforms signs China is improving Chinese government reforms China improving