Seventy-seven years after the founding of the People’s Republic of China, its transformation provides an important case study for developing nations like Zambia. It demonstrates the importance of thinking beyond electoral cycles. It demonstrates what sustained investment in infrastructure and human capital can achieve. It demonstrates the importance of rural development and connecting villages to markets. It demonstrates that citizens can have a role in participating in and protecting development. And it demonstrates the value of a national development vision capable of surviving changes in individual leadership. But Zambia should not romanticise China or assume that every Chinese policy is automatically suitable for us. We have our own constitutional democracy, political traditions and national circumstances. The right question is therefore...