Growing China

Has China progressed? Although thirty years ago China was among the world’s poorest countries and has become the world’s third largest economy, has it actually made progress per capita, has the standard of living improved? Or has it produced an illusion of a large economy, while the truth is that it is a low-income country with a massive population. It is difficult to track China’s economic advancements due to its tampering of its numbers and lack of statistics. China has refused to contribute in a study on the purchasing power parity between countries twice in 1985 and 1993 making it difficult to evaluate the level of poverty in China. Though some studies estimate China’s development. Through 1980, the year Nike began manufacturing in China starting a phenomenon, to 2000, the year China overtook Mexico in exports of apparel to America, China’s real income per capita has raise 400%. The Chinese average income is now above the world’s average. The number of Chinese living in poverty dropped form 376 million to 222 million throughout the ninety’s. Child labor, workers of 10-14 years of age, has dropped from 30% to 8%. Though these are estimates, scientific research can vouch for their positivity. Life expectancy, height, and other medical info show that the standard of living has improved. The daily intake of food has increased 82%, rising from 1,636 to 3,044 calories. Despite all this growth, China has the world’s largest income inequality by region, and it has risen. Guangdong China’s richest province and Guizhou China’s poorest, average incomes differ 4.8 RMB, while America differs $1.9. China has shown great strides not only on a national economic level, but has boomed on a household level as well. Globalization has only propelled China.

Lechner, Frank J., and John Boli, eds. The Globalization Reader. 3rd ed. Malden, MA: Blackwell, 2008.