In 70 years, China has leapt to the top engine of world economic growth

The National Statistical Bureau released a report on the achievements of economic and social development on the 70th anniversary of the founding of New China on September 29. The report shows that since 2006, China has ranked first in the world in the contribution rate to world economic growth and has become the first engine of world economic growth. Over the past 70 years since the founding of New China, China's major economic and social indicators have greatly increased in proportion to the world, and its international status and influence have increased significantly. The report shows that from 1961 to 1978, China contributed an average annual rate of 1.1% to world economic growth. From 1979 to 2012, the annual contribution rate was 15.9%, ranking second in the world. From 2013 to 2018, the annual contribution rate rose to 28.1%, ranking the first in the world. In 2018, China's contribution to world economic growth was 27.5%, 24.4 percentage points higher than in 1978. Over the past 70 years, China's economic strength has increased significantly. In 1952, China's gross domestic product (GDP) was $30 billion in dollar terms. In 2018, GDP reached 136.82 billion US dollars, an increase of 45.26 times over 1952. In 1978, China ranked 11th in the world in GDP; in 2010, it surpassed Japan to become the second largest economy in the world, and then ranked 2nd in the world steadily. China's GDP has increased from 11.4% in 2012 to 15.9% in 2018. Over the past 70 years since the founding of the People's Republic of China, the level of per capita gross national income (GNI) has increased significantly. According to World Bank statistics, in 1962, China's per capita GNI was only $70, reaching $200 in 1978. In 2018, GNI per capita reached $9470, an increase of 134.3 times over that of 1962. The per capita GNI level increased from 14.6% of the world average in 1962 to 85.3% in 2018, an increase of 70.7 percentage points.
According to the current rural poverty standard in China, the rural poverty population in 1978 was 770 million, and the incidence of poverty was 97.5%. At the end of 2018, the rural poor population was 16.6 million, which was 750 million less than in 1978. The incidence of poverty was 1.7%, which was 95.8 percentage points lower than in 1978. Our country is the first developing country to achieve the poverty reduction goal of the United Nations Millennium Development Goals.
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2026-07-17
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