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Beyond US-China decoupling, self-reliance is now a global movement
And despite opposing perspectives, it may reduce mutual dependence such as to assure a strategic peace of mind for both the West and China
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Ningrong Liu is a professor in globalisation and business at the City University of Hong Kong.
My recent visit to Mianyang, the second-largest city in Sichuan province, revealed a place little known despite being just a 90-minute drive from Chengdu. Its unique distinction lies in its high concentration of scientists – a legacy of its role as a central hub during the “Third Front Construction” from 1964 to 1978. This was a critical period when China relocated strategic industries inland to build a self-reliant economy against a backdrop of external threats.
This era formed the second of three key phases in China’s industrial evolution, which began with establishing a heavy industrial foundation in the east during the 1950s, moved to the defensive Third Front Construction in the country’s interior, and culminated in the post-1980s era of reform and opening up.
During the Third Front era, millions of people and advanced research institutes were relocated from coastal areas – mainly Shanghai and Beijing – to the inland western region, with many facilities and factories built directly into mountainsides. Mianyang was dramatically transformed.
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