What does it mean to share development? For China, the answer is a“ladder.” At the 2025 Understanding China Conference on December 1, renowned Chinese scholar Zheng Yongnian unpacked this metaphor.

China's role, he argued, is not to export a rigid model, but to offer tools—a ladder—so other countries, especially in the Global South, can also climb up, according to their own civilizational context.

The Chinese path, he explained, combines openness with self-reliance, offering experience as open-source while urging every nation to “take its own road.” 

Click the video to discover his insight.

Source: Guangzhou Daily Global
Reporters: Wen Junhua, Lyu Yun, Xue Yan, Chen Xiang, Lei Yuhong
Video: Wen Junhua
Video Editors: Xue Yan, Lyu Yun, Chen Jiapeng (Intern）
English Author & Editor: Lyu Yun