Why did China initially model its development on the Soviet Union after 1949?

After the establishment of the People’s Republic of China in 1949, the Chinese leadership sought to transform the nation into a great power through rapid industrialization and the transition to socialism.12

China initially modeled its development on the Soviet Union primarily because the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) lacked experience in managing a state or overseeing large-scale economic development in urban centers. Having gained their expertise through guerrilla warfare and rural mobilization, the CCP leaders turned to the Soviet Union as the only available model for state-building and industrial planning.32

This alignment led to the adoption of the First Five-Year Plan (1953–57), which was explicitly modeled on Soviet experience. The Soviet Union provided extensive technical advice, material aid, and complete industrial plants to assist in this transition. Furthermore, China established a centralized government apparatus and economic ministries that were close copies of their Soviet counterparts. This relationship was reinforced by Western hostility toward the new republic, which deepened the reliance on the Soviet bloc.132