Jin Keyu is a Harvard-trained economist currently serving as an associate professor at the London School of Economics. In The New China Playbook: Beyond Socialism and Capitalism, Jin argues China’s system remains well-positioned to resolve the problems weighing down its economy, and that calls for the country to adopt a model more attuned to the West miss several qualities that have been essential to its success.
In this latest interview in the Open Questions series, Jin discusses these misunderstandings in more detail and lays out her thoughts on how the world can continue to cooperate even in an era of heightened geopolitical tensions. This interview first appeared in SCMP Plus. For other interviews in the Open Questions series, click here.
In your view, what is the West’s biggest misunderstanding about China? How do you deal with this as a Chinese economist based in London? Do you think the challenges are increasing because the gap between China and the West is widening?
I think the West misunderstands Chinese aspirations, the Chinese developmental model and the Chinese people. I think there’s an under-emphasis on cultural differences and, to a certain extent, differences in people’s preferences and values. If we only take one lens to look at the entire world, then – more often than not – we will get it wrong.
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I think part of my job, or the job of many others with similar multicultural backgrounds, is to reduce these misgivings by showing the other side of China from the inside, a way of life that may not be apparent from the headlines of Western media.
It’s a matter of how to communicate. It’s a matter of showing up more and being there to engage with the world, and to give room to a newer generation of voices which understand both the Eastern and Western mentalities.
There are many in my generation and the newer generation who have the ability to bridge this gap, and in our small ways we should all contribute, because I think misunderstandings are causing more serious dangers.
There is a sense that China and the United States often talk past each other, rather than with each other. This comes from the different perspectives, and perhaps the lack of willingness to see the other perspective. I think there are important things to recognise, positive aspects of the Chinese economy and the nation that the US often fails to see. And I think China also ought to be more aware of some of the consequences of its actions in the global arena.
In your book The New China Playbook, published July last year, you describe China as a country “sprinting a marathon” and say one of the keys to its economic development is the unique collaboration between the government and private sector. Can you elaborate on that?