China has Made Historic Strides in Raising Living Standards of Its People

By applying a people-centered development philosophy and addressing prominent issues of immediate concern to the people, China has made historic strides in raising living standards from bare subsistence to moderate prosperity in general and then moderate prosperity in all respects.

Long-term employment stability has been ensured, and the structure of employment has been improved

With the continuous development of the productive forces over the past 75 years, China has been able to effectively promote employment expansion in step with economic development, registering steady growth in the job market in terms of both its size and quality. In 2023, the number of people in employment nationwide stood at 740.41 million, 3.1 times higher than in 1949. The secondary and tertiary industries accounted for 29.1% and 48.1% of total employment, respectively, an increase of 21.7 and 39 percentage points over 1952.

Since 2012, the space for employment has continued to expand, and the employment situation has remained stable. This has helped ensure relatively full employment in our large country of more than 1.4 billion people. Between 2013 and 2023, a total of more than 140 million new urban jobs were created, and the urban surveyed unemployment rate remained stable.

Personal income has grown rapidly, leading to rising consumption levels

Over the past 75 years, China has continued to promote economic development and optimize the income distribution pattern, resulting in steady improvements in personal income and expenditure conditions. Notably, owing to an increase in China’s economic strength since the launch of reform and opening up, personal income has increased rapidly, and consumption levels have risen markedly.

In 2023, the per capita disposable income of residents nationwide reached 39,218 yuan. After adjusting for pricing factors, this is equivalent to a 76-fold increase in real terms from 1949, representing an average annual increase of 6%. Per capita consumer spending, meanwhile, reached 26,796 yuan, a 36-fold increase in real terms from 1956, which is an average annual increase of 5.5%. The patterns of consumption have also improved, with durable consumer goods being upgraded at a faster pace.

In 2023, services consumption accounted for 45.2% of total per capita consumer spending nationwide, an increase of 5.5 percentage points from 2013, while the number of cars and air conditioners per 100 households increased to 49.7 and 145.9 units, respectively.

A multi-tiered social security system has been put into place, weaving a tight safety net for people’s wellbeing

Over the past 75 years, China has established the world’s largest social security system from scratch. By the end of 2023, the number of people covered by basic old-age insurance nationwide had reached 1.066 billion, an increase of 1.009 billion from the end of 1989. The number of people enrolled in unemployment insurance and workers’ compensation schemes had risen to 244 million and 302 million, respectively, an increase of 164 million and 284 million from the end of 1994.

Solid progress has been made in the construction of various types of government-subsidized housing, the development of elderly care services has accelerated, and the system for child welfare and the protection of minors has been continuously improved. All this has ensured that the social security net effectively meets people’s basic needs on a sustainable basis.

We secured a comprehensive victory in the battle against poverty, making a notable contribution to the global poverty reduction efforts

Over the past seven decades and more, China has ceaselessly dedicated itself to reducing poverty. It has made continuous progress in advancing development-based poverty alleviation, promoting transformative changes in people’s lives. Following the 18th CPC National Congress in 2012, China identified poverty alleviation as a fundamental task in building a moderately prosperous society in all respects.

By the end of 2020, after eight years of tireless efforts, China had accomplished the formidable task of eradicating absolute poverty, as all of its 98.99 million rural poor people and all of the 832 counties and 128,000 villages classified as poor had emerged from impoverishment. With this, China accomplished the poverty reduction target laid out in the UN’s 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development 10 years ahead of schedule. This marked the completion of a new chapter in the history of humanity’s fight against poverty.

Editor: Yi Xiaowei

(Excerpts from “Opening a New Chapter After 75 Years of Development” by the CPC Leadership Group of the National Bureau of Statistics, Qiushi Journal, English edition, No. 6, 2024)