WB praises China's reform, contribution to global economy


FE Team | Published: February 26, 2018 21:41:01 | Updated: February 27, 2018 20:38:15


File Photo (Collected)

World Bank has praised Chinese reform in a report subtitled ‘Towards a More Inclusive and Sustainable Development,’ highlighting the country’s rapid economic growth.

The second largest economic country of the world has contributed more than 30 per cent of global economic growth in last five years.

China GDP rose from 54 trillion yuan to over 80 trillion yuan over the past five years, and its real income per capita increased 16-fold from 1978 to 2014, the report said.

The extreme poverty rate of the country fell from 88.3 per cent in 1981 to 1.9 per cent in 2013, reports Xinhua.

With coordinated reform, China can achieve more inclusive and sustainable development, according to the World Bank Group's latest Systematic Country Diagnostic for China.

The report highlighted the rapid growth that has resulted in a decline in poverty "unprecedented in its speed and scale".

"Rapid growth was made possible by a wide range of reforms, which transformed a state-dominated, planned, rural, and closed economy to a more market-based, urbanized, and open economy," it said.

Early this month, Ayhan Kose, director of the World Bank Development Prospect Group, said he was impressed by Chinese leaders' determination.

Kose said, "Managing the economy begins with recognising risks and challenges." The bank is confident that the country will remain a major contributor to the global economy, he added.

Hoon S. Soh, World Bank programme leader for economic policy for China said, "China's remarkable progress in reducing extreme poverty has significantly contributed to the decline in global poverty."

The challenge, the report said, will be to target assistance to the remaining poor while paying attention to those who are vulnerable to falling back into poverty.

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