The Chinese policy of opening up in the 90s was not just a manifestation of their glorious economic development but a consistent execution of fundamental changes that came along the way of development. China’s success sprouts from one pivotal point that elaborates its story: it went through the intrinsic motivation to change its socio-economic conditions. This internal motivation paved the way towards the conception of the Chinese Dream, the great rejuvenation of Chinese nation by the year 2049, that the outer world is witnessing today. This fundamental psyche of the Chinese people made it possible for China to become the world’s largest workshop and put their economic development on the right track. It is necessary to overhaul the Chinese path towards development because of its stature as the world’s second-largest economy. Is it the only successful alternative model of economic development to capitalism? Are there lessons for the rest of the world to learn from it? These are the relevant and fundamental questions that need to be answered. The most pertinent and significant change observed from the Chinese approach was their seriousness about getting rid of the impediments on their way to set goals. Those impediments were confined to the logistics and political limitations, but overall, it was the chronic malpractice of corruption that was sinking the whole system into a deep ditch that kept the Chinese dragon unconscious of its strength and potential.

The Chinese government acted timely and effectively to exorcise the malignant tumour of corruption from the system. In their fight against it, China opted for an integrated approach based on Deng Xiaoping Theory, the critical thought of the Three Represents, and the Scientific Outlook on Development by following the principle of addressing both symptoms and causes. The working style was of paramount importance in executing their policy against corruption because the Chinese believe that if misconduct is not corrected and allowed to run rampant, it will build an invisible wall between the central government and the people. As a result, the centre can lose its base through the withering process of vanguard hegemony. So, it is important to improve the spirit of hard work to counter the stagnancy in the government machinery. At all levels, officials emulated exemplary conduct, took the lead in improving their behaviour, and kept their promises.

In this process of overhauling, their barometer was the satisfaction of the common Chinese with the government officials. They empowered the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection to compound the inspection and supervision to ensure officials’ compliance with accountability and performance. They have built a complete system of combating corruption through punishment and prevention, strengthened education on fighting corruption and upholding integrity, and promoted the culture of a clean working environment. By ensuring that government agencies exercise their authority through proper authorisation and procedures, the Chinese ensured to enhance the mechanism of checking and supervising the exercise of power, strengthen the state laws against corruption, improved intra-party rules, regulations, and institutions. Additionally, reforms were brought about in areas susceptible to corruption.

They empowered the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection to compound the inspection and supervision to ensure officials’ compliance with accountability and performance.

Corruption is deterred, warned against, and prevented by the enhanced Chinese system of checks and supervision over the exercise of power. It also serves as a guarantee that corruption will not go unchecked. The Chinese government has used “tigers” and “flies” approaches to catch officials who broke party discipline and state law and those who engaged in corruption that directly affected the lives of people. This conception of eradicating corruption was based on their firm belief that all are equal before the law, so whoever is involved in a corruption case must be thoroughly and impartially investigated. Another important aspect of the Chinese drive against corruption is their zero-tolerance policy against party officials’ use of perks and privileges beyond their rights. As a result, they made it possible for party members to only be entitled to those personal perks and job-related functions and powers stipulated by rules and regulations and avoid seeking any personal gains or privileges apart or more than those.

Through studying the Chinese movement against corruption’s chronic problem, one can get the nuances of their historical wisdom to deal with corruption. They not only draw from historical experiences but also learn from them. They drew upon the fine culture of clean government in Chinese history, steadily improved the Party’s leadership and governance skills, and became better able to combat corruption, prevent degeneracy, and ward off risks. China’s leadership has come to realise that it is crucial to keep relying on people, retain close relations with them, and avoid becoming isolated. Awareness on corruption and education were the last constituents of the project. They realised that by creating a stable and working system on a long-term basis, they could identify, detect, and punish the corrupt goons. It is a prerequisite to remain vigilant at all levels by keeping in mind that “many worms will disintegrate wood, and a big enough crack will lead to the collapse of a wall.” So, as the saying goes, the Chinese government got tough in cracking down on corruption.

In this way, they became able to protect the legitimate rights and interests of the people effectively. China’s rejuvenation is not simply an economic model of development; instead, it is a cognitive change in Chinese to redeem the soul by cracking down on corruption. So, we can conclude from this discussion that China’s economic progress is one facet of their firm and long-standing commitment to wiping out practices that undermine their potential to go ahead. It inspires other countries, mainly third-world countries, because it halts the development of corruption to a great extent and pave a way for healthy business and investment, which cannot flourish under existential threat of malpractices and systematic hedonism. Pakistan and China are all-weather friends. It is pertinent for Pakistan to learn from China’s economic progress and technological advancement and create a corruption-free environment for investors’ confidence-building in the system.