Chongqing - Roland Boer, an Australian Marxist philosopher and Sinologist, said Chongqing serves as a microcosm of China's modernization, demonstrating how Chinese modernization is shaped by local conditions while contributing to the country's overall development.

Boer made the remarks during a Global Vision interview held alongside the International Seminar on the Global Significance of Chinese-style Modernization recently. The program explored how Chongqing's development offers insights into Chinese modernization from the perspectives of urban development, industrial innovation, cultural preservation, and people's well-being.

Having observed the city during a two-day visit, Boer said what impressed him most was the pace of Chongqing's development and its integrated approach to modernization.

"I think Chongqing in many respects is a microcosm of China," he said. "The first one is the pace of redevelopment. It's becoming a global hub despite being located in southwest China's inland region. I also see many levels of integrated development, from technological innovation and industrial integration to cultural preservation and creative renewal, together with a strong focus on improving people's lives."

Boer said Chinese modernization should not be understood as a uniform model, but as the accumulation of diverse local practices shaped by different geographical, historical, and social conditions.

"China is a big country, and each area has its own concrete conditions and characteristics," he said. "Chinese-style modernization is actually the integration of local-style modernization." He suggested that Chongqing's development could be viewed as a distinctive form of modernization within the broader framework of Chinese modernization.

Drawing on his research in different parts of China, Boer noted that regions are advancing modernization at different stages according to their own realities. He cited Zhejiang's Jiaxing, where urban and rural living standards have become increasingly balanced, and Songxi County in Fujian Province, where he is currently conducting research on rural revitalization from a Marxist philosophical perspective.

From his academic perspective, Boer said one of the defining features of Chinese modernization is that it follows a socialist path centered on common prosperity.

He argued that Chinese modernization seeks to improve the lives of the entire population, rather than benefiting only a small portion of society. Unlike the historical path of Western modernization, which he associated with colonial expansion, China's modernization is achieved through its own development without relying on colonization.

Boer also stressed that China's experience should not be copied mechanically by other countries.

"Countries need to find their own path in light of their own history, culture, and concrete conditions," he said. "But they also need to engage with other countries in that process."

Reflecting on his years of research in China, Boer said his understanding of the country deepened after realizing that methodologies developed from studying Western and Soviet Marxism could not simply be applied to China.

He said serious research on China requires close engagement with Chinese scholarship, noting that the vast majority of sources for his forthcoming book on Marxist philosophy in China are Chinese-language academic works.

Asked what message he would share with scholars and policymakers overseas, Boer encouraged people to experience China firsthand.

"Come and see for yourself," he said. "What Chongqing is doing works. When I come to China, when I come to a place like Chongqing, I feel I'm stepping into the future. When I go back to Australia, I feel I'm stepping into the past."