In 2014, was 100��out of 178 countries in Transparency International’s Corruption Perceptions Index.��Since taking office in 2013, President has led a renewed campaign to eradicate corruption, as shown by the July 2014 investigation into allegations��against Zhou Yongkang,��who was officially����in April 2015.

Zhou was a member of the��17^th��Politburo Standing Committee (PSC), China’s highest decision-making body. In his capacity as a member of the PSC, Zhou also wielded a lot of clout and control over the nation’s military forces and the national oil sector. Xi’s campaign to eliminate corruption, however, has its roots in the Lai Changxing corruption scandal in the late 1990s, which involved the largest case of smuggling in Chinese history.

Lai Changxing founded the Yuanhua Group in Xiamen in 1994, where he began smuggling products like cars, oil and cigarettes into Mainland China. Between 1996-99, the total of goods Lai smuggled through Xiamen reached $7.9 billion, and he avoided paying nearly $5 billion in taxes.

To make this happen, Lai paid off more than 64 officials with millions of dollars and developed financial ties with top Chinese officials, including Deputy Minister for Public Security Li Jizhou; Major General of Military Intelligence for the People’s Liberation Army Ji Shengde; and Customers Director of Amoy Yang Qianxian, among many others.

Turning a Blind Eye

There are several explanations as to why those 64 top officials turned a blind eye toward Lai’s smuggling activities. In theory, effective ideological of the party in power would mean there should be a lower degree of corruption. Due to economic liberalization in China at that time, the attractiveness of economic progress made Maoist morality become increasingly irrelevant. Unlike the Mao years when getting rich was seen as bourgeois behavior, the economic reforms in 1978 under Deng Xiaoping prioritized national success in the economic realm.

As a result, it can be seen that officials were willing to help Lai and turn a blind eye to his activities, since his investments and businesses promoted economic growth. These top officials also put their faith in luck, thinking they would not be caught since there were also other senior government officials involved. Indeed, one could say that corruption among politicians was the rule rather than the exception at that time.

Another explanation can be derived from personal connections, known as guanxi, which have long been important social practice in Chinese society. China has a long history of hierarchical systems with Confucian ethics, where roles are established as relationships and are not individualistic.

To some extent, the creation of guanxi through personal connections and cooperation can be regarded as a substitute for the market and the legal-institutional environment that supports it. Guanxi served as a coordinating mechanism that provided more efficient allocation of scarce goods and services. For example, between 1959-61, referred to as three years of great Chinese famine, scarce resources and goods such as housing and schooling were selectively distributed by bureaucrats. This is a possible cultural explanation on the roots of corruption of Lai’s case, where his close guanxi networks with government officials enabled him to easily access resources and later commit crimes.

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Effects on Foreign Direct Investment

The corruption scandal of had a tremendous on Xiamen’s foreign direct investment (FDI). Two years after the exposure of his smuggling ring, the total foreign trade volume of Xiamen in 2000�� $10 billion and the total container throughput increased by 26%, reaching 10 million containers. Xiamen’s GDP in 2000 also achieved $83 billion and its urban per capita disposable income was more than $1,500, increasing by over 12%. However, GDP increased at a lower rate for several years since then and foreign investors were not optimistic about the change.

There are several reasons explaining the downward investment situation in Xiamen. First, many local firms were knowingly or unknowingly connected with the Yuanhua Group, and these firms were adversely affected after the scandal. Many of them had negative earnings or even went bankrupt, therefore,�� the��local business environment and making foreign investment unattractive at that time.

After the Yuanhua Group went bankrupt, employees at state-owned companies received far less revenue since no further “gray” or questionable income was available. These changes led to a decrease in confidence and consumption.

Moreover, the service sector in Xiamen also witnessed a localized great depression after the corruption scandal — for example, a taxi driver’s income was by 50%. Other places in China such as Zhejiang and Guangdong eventually became substitutes for doing business in Xiamen and attracted plenty of foreign direct investment. The overall effect, however, was still negative.

The Timing of Lai’s Downfall and Xi’s Rise

The corruption of the Yuanhua Group, a seemingly independent case in Chinese history, has profound effects on today’s strict anti-corruption reforms under President Xi. According to a 2012 Forbes , corruption practices across the country were rampant between 1996-99 — coincidentally the period of time when Lai carried out his smuggling activities.

During this period of time, Jiang Zemin was president and Zhou Yongkang gained rapid career advancement. More interestingly, Xi Jinping was made governor of Fujian in 2001, the year in which the scandal of Lai was exposed. It is hard to say to what extent Xi had contributed to expose Lai’s corruption when he was governor in Fujian. However, it can be seen that Xi was the perfect crusader against corruption, because he was not involved in any corruption during his tenure as governor. Lai’s from Canada to China in July 2011 was seen as a joint effort between then-President Hu Jintao and Xi Jinping. Many within China view Lai’s extradition as a message for many high government officials, who later reported Zhou Yongkang in 2013 for allegedly making billions of dollars through his high position of power within the national oil industry. It can hence be seen that Lai’s sentence may have laid the foundations for Xi’s future efforts to eradicate corruption once he took office.

While truly eradicating corruption might be impossible — given China’s history and nature of governance — an effective legal and institutional environment can reduce such practices by regulating and protecting business activities from government corruption. Moreover, such anticorruption actions must protect the authority of the central government and receive support from the top.

Xi’s campaign to promote good governance can be further supported by his government’s efforts to decrease the widening inequality gap in China. According to a conducted by the Center for Global, International and Regional Studies, 10% of China’s richest people enjoyed 45% of the county’s wealth, while the poorest 10% only accounted for 1.4%. As corruption and guanxi networks are usually regarded as the sources of huge concentrations of wealth for China’s richest families, such unfair practices and widening inequality will eventually threaten the stability of society as a whole.

Although Xi’s overarching goal has been to eliminate , empirical questions remain as to when and where corruption rates in the public sector will start declining and whether the new approach to minimize corruption will eventually stimulate changes in China’s political structure so the country’s judicial system will gain independence. As the world awaits more news on Zhou Yongkang’s case, attention will be paid to the future of governance in China.

The views expressed in this article are the author’s own and do not necessarily reflect 51�Թ�’s editorial policy.

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At Nottingham University Ningbo China (UNNC), are prepared for to go global. Taught in English according to Western standards and under strict quality control of the campus, they receive an internationally competitive and globally recognized degree. However, while students achieve very good to excellent results in written assessments, one key cultural challenge remains. At the UNNC, active class participation is encouraged, but Chinese students are often shy and passive throughout their education, experiencing difficulties with innovative and critical thinking.

The Issues

China’s current educational system is exam-oriented. Although quality-oriented education has been advocated in educational circles, it is hardly implemented in China. The aim of Chinese education is to answer questions correctly, achieve high marks and pass exams. Therefore, all questions have a standard answer, even so-called “open questions.” Under pressure to prepare students for tests, most teachers will not attach importance to nurturing their creativity and curiosity. As a result, Chinese students are good at rote-learning but lack their own thoughts. They are frequently described as delivering “high scores and low abilities.”

The Chinese educational mode is passive. Teachers instill the minds of young children with fixed ideas. Students are encouraged from early on to accept all knowledge provided by their teachers, to listen carefully in class and to remember all content in exact detail. Moreover, asking questions freely is discouraged, in favor of keeping quiet in class for teachers to better transfer knowledge. Any interruptions are perceived as disrespectful, and doubt may be considered a threat to a teacher’s authority. As one student put it: “If we want to ask questions, we have to hold special postures and raise the right hand [and] then wait for the teacher to ask us. Sometimes a teacher will not give us the chance to ask. Sometimes we will be criticized or mocked by classmates if the question seems stupid.”

The consequence of this Chinese educational culture is that students do not like to ask questions and cannot easily open up in seminars. Most students are not good at critical thinking because they were never encouraged to think critically before, let alone communicate with teachers and their peers.

Influenced by the passive educational mode, most Chinese students have developed a habit of just listening and accepting the instilled knowledge, without independent thinking. Many students keep quiet in class because they may not even understand some questions.

In China, teachers have a high status, and students often perceive the relationship between a teacher and student as unfair. The teacher is always right. Students are told by parents that a teacher is sacred and whatever they say must be right. Students should accept what teachers say without any doubt or conflict, in order to show respect and get high marks. In many , slogans cited from “Di Zi Gui” — a famous standard for students in ancient China — are put up on the wall to educate students to respect their teachers. A very typical slogan is: “When facing an elder or teacher, do not show off and challenge your teacher.” Therefore, for most students, they have the impression that a teacher’s authority cannot be challenged.

The Chinese educational mode is passive. Teachers instill the minds of young children with fixed ideas. Students are encouraged from early on to accept all knowledge provided by their teachers, to listen carefully in class and to remember all content in exact detail.��

Before answering questions, most Chinese students enter a psychological struggle: Should I answer this question? If so, what will others think of me? Will they think I am showing off? This is a universal phenomenon and remaining “low key” is the prototypical behavior of most Chinese people. In other words, low key is perceived as a virtue — the virtue of humility. Too much activity is perceived as eccentric behavior, and Chinese students do not want to become alienated among classmates.

Most students like to express themselves when they are young. If they always receive praise, they will be more willing to answer questions. If they are always repudiated, it will have a negative effect. In a Chinese class, each question has only one standard answer and it is either right or wrong. As some students reflected, they have been repudiated after expressing their own opinion; although their answer is very similar to the standard one. In this situation, Chinese students are afraid to express opinions. “If I provide a right answer, there are not many benefits, but if the answer is wrong, I will be mocked and lose face — this contains [a] high risk.” So when they are unsure about an answer, they will choose not to speak up to minimize this risk.

Most Chinese students lack confidence in conversing in English. When asked a question, they might not speak up, even if they know the answer. They will organize their response first and only answer a question if they can express it accurately. However, the process of organizing language takes much time, including checking a dictionary and structuring a sentence. Sometimes, they are not confident enough and give up. Most of the time, before they get ready to answer a question, the teacher will already have moved on. However, the language problem is not the main reason. It is simply typical for Chinese students to always keep quiet.

Although taught in English, Chinese students tend to use their native language in class. Similarly, Western foreign exchange students use their own native tongue to communicate. The Chinese integrate little with predominantly international student groups, while international students integrate better into groups of Chinese students. This is because language and cultural differences make communication difficult for Chinese students, since they typically arrive with a lower level of English skills at the university.

Faced with these difficulties, Chinese students choose to escape. Due to the one-child policy in the generation born after the 1980s, most students are the only child in their families. Children receive more love and care than before. Parents use their experience and wisdom to make all decisions for their children, in order to help them avoid failure. However, this may limit a child’s development and deprive them of the right to experience life and make mistakes. As a result, many students become used to depending on their parents and lack independence. When facing difficulties, they tend to escape instead of taking the bull by the horns.

The Solutions

So what are the solutions? Most Chinese students are very careful about what others think of them. It is of crucial importance to show students that language is just a tool for communication, no matter how good one’s proficiency is. The aim is to communicate and exchange ideas, so that no one will mock an accent or grammar mistake. In order to encourage Chinese students to speak, it is key to emphasize content over language and grammar for written assessments. This can effectively encourage students to express their own perspectives.

The new Chinese leadership puts a heavy emphasis on innovation to turn China into a competitive global player, and move away from the economy’s reliance on manufacturing cheap goods as the factory of the world. Educating a generation of Chinese students who��can innovate in their thinking and be critical is a cornerstone for China’s future success.��

Traditional Chinese education puts a lot of pressure on students when trying to communicate with teachers. In order to change this situation, teachers need to create a lively, friendly and relaxed class atmosphere. Students should feel that having lessons is like conversing with friends. Humor can be a key component of breaking barriers. Using humor to illustrate concepts encourages students to share their opinions. For instance, some students enjoy the education style of “New Oriental,” a famous English training organization. Their teachers are perceived as humorous, friendly, lively and interesting. Students feel no pressure when talking with them and are unafraid of making mistakes.

Teachers need to encourage students to prepare before class. For instance, teachers may ask each student to prepare presentations on relevant topics as part of active class participation. For example, the UNNC graduate course on qualitative methods has almost no teaching materials; the only materials are different articles selected by the instructor to be discussed in a seminar format.

In class, seating is fixed in a circle. Students sit very close to each other, making them feel more comfortable with sharing their perspective. All knowledge is transferred during discussions and learning takes place in a conversational style. Other methods may include discussing videos, theater and role-plays. A great team-building tool can be the use of group simulations with competing teams, since Chinese students are very competitive.

To tackle the students’ fear of making mistakes, teachers need to provide substantial praise and encouragement throughout class. If students believe that answering a question does not have many benefits, they will be deterred from doing so. Even being graded by active class participation may not be tempting enough for them. Arguably, praise or encouragement is a much more powerful type of reward. Respecting students’ answers is crucial to building up their confidence, even if they misunderstand questions. It is helpful to find a friendly way to value each answer and avoid any negation to build self-confidence.

One technique is to encourage students to contradict their teachers and give high marks to any insightful or novel perspective. Students should be willing to freely express their ideas and enter discussions. As one student put it: “Even if we believe the Earth is flat, not round, we can discuss with the teacher because we clearly know that there is no absolute right or wrong answer in his eyes.”

Looking Ahead

The new Chinese leadership puts a heavy emphasis on innovation to turn China into a competitive global player, and move away from the economy’s reliance on manufacturing cheap goods as the factory of the world. Educating a generation of Chinese students who��can innovate in their thinking and be critical is a cornerstone for China’s future success. The educational experiment of the Nottingham University Ningbo China, the first true joint venture between a Chinese and Western institution of higher education, provides valuable lessons on how to educate the next generation of Chinese leaders.

The views expressed in this article are the author’s own and do not necessarily reflect 51�Թ�’s editorial policy.

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