Vice President Professor Jane Naana Opoku-Agyemang has urged countries in the Global South to draw lessons from China’s development experience without necessarily adopting its political system.
She made the call at the 2026 Global South Academic Forum in Shanghai, China, where participants gathered to discuss governance and development.
Professor Opoku-Agyemang said China’s transformation over the past several decades offered valuable lessons for developing countries, particularly in long-term planning, industrialisation, poverty reduction and the role of institutions in national development.
She noted, however, that China’s development pathway had been shaped by its history, institutions, political system and national priorities, stressing that other countries must assess its experience within the context of their own circumstances.
The Vice President described China’s development trajectory as one of the most consequential development stories of the modern era, urging scholars and policymakers across the Global South to examine the factors that had contributed to its progress.
She said cooperation among countries in the Global South should provide opportunities to assess successful policies, learn from failures and identify mistakes that other nations could avoid.
“Our task is to develop the intellectual confidence to compare experiences, identify lessons, and recognise that institutions must ultimately reflect the societies they are intended to serve. This brings me naturally to our host country, the People’s Republic of China. China’s transformation over the past several decades represents one of the most consequential development stories of the modern period.
She added, “China has pursued a modernisation pathway shaped by its history, institutions, political system, and national priorities. For scholars and policymakers across the Global South, China’s experience invites closer examination of its long-term planning, industrialisation, poverty reduction, and the role of the Communist Party of China in shaping the country’s development trajectory.”
Professor Opoku-Agyemang said such exchanges were among the most important purposes of South-South cooperation, as countries could benefit from shared experiences without having to replicate one another’s political and institutional arrangements.
“The most productive principle for South-South dialogue is that we should learn from one another without assuming that we must become one another.
“We can, however, sit across from one another with sufficient confidence and humility to compare what worked, what failed, which institutions enabled progress, and which mistakes others might avoid. That is one of the highest purposes of the South-South cooperation,” she said.
She also called on countries in the Global South to intensify efforts towards national development, stressing that political independence alone was insufficient to guarantee progress.
She urged countries to strengthen their institutions, invest in education and infrastructure, and build productive economies to translate political independence into sustainable development.
