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A quick look at 60 years of China's development
Last week’s 60th anniversary celebrations marking the founding of the People’s Republic of China seemed to generate a lot of coverage and interest on news and social media websites. Business magazine Fast Company used the occasion to consider 15 different development-related statistics – comparing then to now.
Most of the figures are striking, and the graphic’s triangles illustrate how rapid and staggering the changes have been in China in just six decades. Interesting data (although the magazine doesn't specify its sources) in the infographic include:
- The average life expectancy has increased from 35 to 73 years old.
- The rate of illiteracy was 80 percent in 1949 and is 9.1 percent now.
- The enrollment rate for primary-school children went from 20 percent to 99.3 percent.
Take a closer look at the chart here. (Hat tip to Cool Infographics.)
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Very effective visualization
Great find James, quite a contrast and quite worthy of pride and celebrations.
I would venture a guess that
I would venture a guess that the world has never seen such an example of economic development leading to large increases in human development over such a small time period. I'm wondering if this somehow vindicates the concept of authoritarian rule. For all China's flaws (human rights abuses, environmental concerns), it is clear that their unique style of governance has stewarded a major transformation. The claim could even be made that the most successful Asian countries in recent years (in terms of economic triumphs)--have been countries that maintain tight control over their populations, i.e. South Korea, China. I'm not necessarily advocating this style as a means to development elsewhere, but I feel it's worth noting.
60 years - or 30?
Is it really the last 60 years? Or is it the last 30 years?
It seems likely that most of these changes have occurred since China's relative opening and liberalization and adoption of market mechanisms.
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