China: Great Changes In People’s Livelihood

Since the start of reform and opening up in 1978, China, the largest developing country in the world, has created a "new miracle" in terms of socioeconomic development in the history of human civilization.

The relationship between the state and the people has fully mobilized the enthusiasm of producers, stimulated economic vitality,

completed the transformation from a planned economy to a market economy, and jointly

created a Chinese miracle of economic

development.

The GDP jumped rapidly from 364.5 billion Chinese yuan ($51.48 billion) in 1978 to 82.7 trillion yuan ($11.68 trillion) in 2017, an increase of 226 times, making it the world's second-largest economy. China's GDP accounted for less than 2 percent of the world economy in 1978 to about 18.6 percent in 2022, ranking second in the world. It can be said that China today is a veritable global economic power.

The 46-year reform has also seen and made China the most rapidly changing society in terms of urban-rural relations. China has transformed from a backward rural society to a prosperous urban-rural integrated society. In 1978, China was a typical agricultural country with 80 percent of the total population living in rural areas.

Since then, through reforms and innovations such as increasing the household registration system, the land system, the urban unit system, the establishment of special economic zones, and the establishment of open cities, the peasants have been liberated from the original land bondage, and a large number of rural labor force has begun to flow to large and medium-sized cities. The whole society has shown a high degree of mobility, and Chinese society has embarked on the road of modern urbanization development, and the vitality of cities has been further released.

Up to now, China's urbanization rate has exceeded 66.6 percent, more than half of the population has become urban citizens, and a large number of megacities with a population of more than 5 million and highly densely populated and economically integrated megacities have been produced, creating new wealth, new products, new civilizations, and new lifestyles. China's comprehensive transportation network has a total length of more than 6 million kilometers, with the world's largest high-speed rail network, largest expressway network, largest postal express delivery network and world-class port cluster, which greatly facilitates people's travel.

For a large developing country with a population of more than one billion, in such a short period, it has transformed from a poor and backward country into a country dominated by urban residents, and at the same time, the construction of urban and rural infrastructure based on high-speed rail and the Internet has made rapid progress, which has to be said to be a huge achievement.

The pursuit of a better life is an eternal theme and an eternal process. Development is the key to meeting the people's aspirations for a better life.

Through all-round economic, political, social, and ecological reforms, China will open up new employment channels and development opportunities for the general public, continuously improve people's livelihood, increase income, and let the broad masses of the people live a prosperous, happy, and civilized new life, which is the original intention of reform and opening-up, and it is also one of the greatest achievements of reform and opening-up in the past 40 years.

Published on: Friday, September 20, 2024, 11:08 PM IST