Virus fight sets things right

Stable model

Highlighting the achievements amid the centennial celebrations, Cavolo says China's "stable, capable model of governance" has most notably raised an unprecedented middle class and standard of living.

"A middle class that's basically at this point, twice the size of the United States. We could spend so much more time focusing on the incredible implications of that one achievement right there," Cavolo says.

"China's current model of governance ... is the efficiency of getting things done."

The Chinese model includes crucial five-year plans and a feedback mechanism attuned to the real needs of the people, Cavolo says.

"The amazing thing about the five-year plans is that they implement what the government says needs to be done. In fact, the people were solicited-they were surveyed and asked, 'What do you need? What does society need?' Policy is formed, and then the government does its job.

"There's plenty of democratic process within the Party system and in fact, within China's Constitution. So the Chinese government goes out and asks its citizens, 'What are your interests? What are your problems?' This is done by an ongoing series of surveys. How does the government inform itself and know what to do if it doesn't ask its citizens?

"Their system of governance, which is democratic, is to go out and ask everyone, find out what the citizens need. That information moves its way upward through the government, from the local villages into the cities, into the municipalities, into the provinces, and then ultimately up to Beijing where this is incorporated into and creates the formation of policy, which is what they're executing and finalizing in the five-year plan. It's a very managed, clear and efficient system," Cavolo says.