Abstract
The fundamental aim of China’s development is to improve the welfare of its population, providing not only a prosperous and decent life for all, but also higher levels of education, and a healthier and longer life.
Man appropriates his comprehensive essence in a comprehensive manner,
that is to say, as a whole man.
Marx (1844)
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- 1.
In 1990, UNDP developed the human development index (HDI) to measure the achievements of a country in three basic dimensions of human development: a long and healthy life (life expectancy at birth); access to knowledge (mean years of schooling and expected years of schooling); and a decent standard of living (GNI per capita) (PPP US$). HDI includes per capita GDP, so it is better than a simple per capita GDP. The index is rich in content, with clear meaning, and is therefore highly recognized and broadly accepted.
- 2.
This method is different from the method used by economists, which measures the dollar value of per capita GDP using constant price and constant exchange rate methods. The use of the exchange rate method underestimates the real purchasing power of RMB and accompanied with economic globalization and integration, the exchange rate of the RMB to the dollar will assume an upward trend. Therefore, using the exchange rate method, the dollar value of China’s per capita GDP would move to a long-term convergence toward PPP current price and PPP constant price. By2030, the dollar value of China’s per capita GDP would be approximately 50% of the United States according to the various methods of calculation.
- 3.
The per capita living area of urban residents in 2010 reached 31.6 square meters and that of rural areas, 34.1 square meters (State Statistical Bureau 2010). The average per capita living area of high-income countries is 376 square feet (37 square meters) and that of upper-middle income countries such as Greece, South Korea, and Spain is 236 square feet (approx. 23 square meters) (Qiao Lei 2010).
- 4.
Renmin Net, Beijing, Feb. 27, 2011.
- 5.
Data source: World Bank, World Development Indicators 2009, pp. 14–16, 80–82.
- 6.
Mao Zedong said, “Of all things in the world, people are the most precious” (Mao Zedong 1949).
- 7.
In fact, American education lags behind in its economic development level. South Korea’s expected years of education from preschool to higher education in 2009 is 18.1 years, 0.7 years more than the United States; its expected years of schooling from primary to higher education is 16.9 years, 0.9 years more than the United States. However, the per capita GDP of South Korea (exchange rate method, current dollar price) is only 37.1 % that of the United States.
- 8.
Amartya Sen, “Poverty as Capability Deprivation”, Chinese edition, “Vision”, Issue No. 4.
- 9.
Human Development Unit, East Asia and Pacific Region, World Bank, “Toward a Healthy and Harmonious Life in China: Stemming the Rising Tide of Non-Communicable Diseases”.
- 10.
Chinese health minister Chen Zhu, September 8, 2009.
- 11.
Statistical Information Center of the Ministry of Public Heal, “Main Results of the Fourth Health Service Survey 2008”.
- 12.
Human Development Unit, East Asia and Pacific Region, World Bank, “Toward a Healthy and Harmonious Life in China: Stemming the Rising Tide of Non-Communicable Diseases”.
- 13.
Speech by Chinese Vice Health Minister Yin Li, XinhuaNet, Beijing, Sept. 18, 2010.
- 14.
Our estimate is more optimistic than that of the UN and other organizations. According to the new predictions of the UN, China’s life expectancy will reach 75.6 years between 2020 and 2025 and up to 77.2 years between 2030 and 2035. See Population Division of the Department of Economic and Social Affairs of the United Nations Secretariat, World Population Prospects: The 2010 Revision, http://esa.un.org/unpd/wpp/index.htm
- 15.
See Project Group of the Ministry of Public Health, “Healthy China Strategy 2020”, Research Report, May 2010.
- 16.
Sub-standard drinking water refers to water with high levels of fluoride and arsenic, bitter-tasting, polluted water, water in snail fever-infested areas that have high levels of micro-organisms, and serious water shortages in local areas (Ma Kai 2006).
- 17.
The percentage of mid-level human development in 2000 was 6.9 % (UNDP 2003).
- 18.
Jiang Zemin pointed out that “a fairly perfect fitness-for-all and medical and health system will take shape by 2020” (Jiang Zemin 2005).
- 19.
Before 1949, China’s death rate was 20 %; infant mortality rates were as high as 20 %; and mean life expectancy was approximately 35 years, at the 1820 level for Western Europe (36 years), lower than that of the United States in 1820 (39 years).
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Hu, A., Yan, Y., Wei, X. (2014). High-Welfare State. In: China 2030. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-31328-8_6
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