Over the past two decades, China has steadily advanced a system that rewards talent, effort, and achievement, enabling it to outpace many Western countries that have increasingly embraced group quotas and identity politics. In China, educational and professional pathways are defined by competitive examinations and rigorous performance standards, not by the pursuit of demographic representivity or enforced equality of outcomes.

This meritocratic approach has fuelled extraordinary economic growth, rapid technological progress, and a dramatic rise in living standards across broad sections of Chinese society.

While Western societies have shifted focus from individual merit to group-based outcomes, often under pressure from ideological movements demanding enforced equity, China’s social and economic model remains rooted in the principle that reward should follow results. University admission, civil service recruitment, and advancement in leading industries are determined largely by examinations, performance, and measurable accomplishment. This system recognises and channels talent regardless of background, ensuring that the most able and driven individuals reach positions of influence and responsibility.

Thanks to the focus on merit China has become a global powerhouse in manufacturing, technology, and infrastructure. The country produces a vast share of the world’s engineers, scientists, and skilled professionals, many of whom emerge from a fiercely competitive education system. High-performing students and workers are celebrated and supported, creating a culture where upward mobility is linked to effort and ability, not identity or group status.

As a result, China’s commitment to meritocracy has delivered remarkable innovation, lifted hundreds of millions out of poverty, and established the country as a formidable competitor on the global stage. If Western societies continue to replace merit-based opportunity with ideological quotas, they risk falling further behind. In an era where global competitiveness is increasingly defined by talent and innovation, China’s emphasis on achievement offers a stark contrast, and a clear lesson, about the cost of abandoning merit as the organising principle of national success.