China’s Economic Growth and Development
China’s Economic Growth and Development
China is presently the world’s largest economy in relation to its population of 1.3 billion. The country is currently a socialist economy ruled by a Communist Government, with significant structural changes impacting its economy as a result of the high rate of growth over the past decades. Its economy is in the transition phase, moving from being a centrally planned economy to a system based more on the market. A socialist or market economy can be defined as an economic system based on government ownership of key resources which are crucial to the economy, rather than the individual taking ownership. There are; however, exceptions to this, such as permitting the partial use of markets to exchange dispensable commodities, such as farm products and retail goods. It is hypothesised that China’s economic and social transformation - lead by sustained economic growth – has significantly impacted upon the distribution of wealth and income in China by means of an improved standard of living. This is evident in China’s Human Development Index (HDI), and can be supported by statistics from during this period, data dating from 1978 onwards relating to China’s steady climb, as well as evidence from the Great Leap Forward. China’s economic growth continues today, through the continual developmental process leading to a market based economy, and data from the previous decades serves as a stable economic indicator.
The Human Development Index (HDI) is a tool which measures and ranks countries’ level of social and economic development, and places China as the 101st country out of the 187 countries and territories in the HDI (United Nations Development Programme, 2013). The rankings are based on four main criteria: life expectancy at birth, average schooling years, expected years of schooling, and gross national income (GNI) per capita. The HDI makes it possible to compare development levels in various countries, as well as monitor the
China is presently the world’s largest economy in relation to its population of 1.3 billion. The country is currently a socialist economy ruled by a Communist Government, with significant structural changes impacting its economy as a result of the high rate of growth over the past decades. Its economy is in the transition phase, moving from being a centrally planned economy to a system based more on the market. A socialist or market economy can be defined as an economic system based on government ownership of key resources which are crucial to the economy, rather than the individual taking ownership. There are; however, exceptions to this, such as permitting the partial use of markets to exchange dispensable commodities, such as farm products and retail goods. It is hypothesised that China’s economic and social transformation - lead by sustained economic growth – has significantly impacted upon the distribution of wealth and income in China by means of an improved standard of living. This is evident in China’s Human Development Index (HDI), and can be supported by statistics from during this period, data dating from 1978 onwards relating to China’s steady climb, as well as evidence from the Great Leap Forward. China’s economic growth continues today, through the continual developmental process leading to a market based economy, and data from the previous decades serves as a stable economic indicator.
The Human Development Index (HDI) is a tool which measures and ranks countries’ level of social and economic development, and places China as the 101st country out of the 187 countries and territories in the HDI (United Nations Development Programme, 2013). The rankings are based on four main criteria: life expectancy at birth, average schooling years, expected years of schooling, and gross national income (GNI) per capita. The HDI makes it possible to compare development levels in various countries, as well as monitor the
Bibliography: Cave, D., Searle, I., Kirkwood, L., & Cronk, T. (2011). Economics for the Real World 1. Melbourne: Pearson Australia. Cave, D., Searle, I., Kirkwood, L., & Cronk, T. (2011). Economics for the Real World 2. Melbourne: Pearson Australia. Embassy of the People 's Republic of China in the Republic of Iceland. (2012, May). Statistics Show China 's 50-Year Economic Development. Retrieved August 5, 2014, from Embassy of the People 's Republic of China in the Republic of Iceland: http://is.china-embassy.org/eng/zgjm/GeneralEconomicSituation/t98253.htm Riley, T. (2013). Year 12 Economics 2013. Sydney: Tim Riley Publications. Sedghi, A. (2012, March 24). China GDP: how it has changed since 1980. Retrieved July 31, 2014, from The Guardian: http://www.theguardian.com/news/datablog/2012/mar/23/china-gdp-since-1980#data United Nations Development Programme. (2013). Human Development Report 2013. Retrieved July 25, 2014, from United Nations Development Programme: http://hdr.undp.org/sites/default/files/Country-Profiles/CHN.pdf Zhu, X. (2012). Understanding China’s Growth: Past, . Retrieved July 24, 2014, from American Economic Association: http://pubs.aeaweb.org/doi/pdfplus/10.1257/jep.26.4.103