Here are some of the data mentioned in this report (The China Modernization Report 2005):
In 2002, China’s economy ranked as 69th among the 108 nations in the world. Even though in the last 2 decades, China has had a high total growth rate, due to the extremely low base of per capita GDP, the absolute gap bet. Chinese per capita GDP and that of other developed nations is actually increasing.
Measured by PPP purchasing power, China in 2001 had per capita GDP of $3,580. The US has had per capita GDP of that amount in 1892, Netherlands, in 1897. If measured by the percent of agricultural labor, the gap bet. China and Britain is more than 200 years. In 2000, 50% of Chinese labor was farm labor, while only 34% of all the British labor force was farm labor in 1801.
It is estimated that by the year of 2050, the economy of China will be reaching to the level of the US in 2002. This is to say the gap bet. China and the US will be shortened from 100 years (as of 2001) to 50 years. By the year of 2100, the gap bet. the US and China will be shorten for 10 years, and the modernization of the Chinese economy will be among the top 10 in the world by then.
In order to reach the above goal, China has to have an average annual growth rate of 8% for their transportation industry, 6% for energy, 5% for phone, and 3% for knowledge-based equipment.
As a conclusion, China has to keep a cool head, and face the reality. China cannot ignore his average standard of GDP of the entire country and only focus on the couple of more developed big cities. |
