On the 50th Anniversary of the founding of the People's Republicof China, some incredible statistics putting into perspective the monumental changes and successes achieved by China since 1949.
Roads:
1949: 81,000 kilometres of roads in which 32,000 were surfaced roads; in 1998: 1.3 million kms - a 16 fold increase-all counties are connected by roads (a county is an administrative region under a city), almost 99% of townships and 88% of villages now have roads. Freeways have grown from zero to 8,733 kms with 15,700 kms under construction.
Rail:
In 50 years more than 120 rail lines have been constructed. 57,600 kms of lines operate - up from about 19,000 kms in 1949; 22.5% are electrified; Beijing to Kowloon is the longest and most costly.
Airports/Planes:
Statistics really take off from 1978 when there were 78 airports; now there are 141 in which 17 can accommodate Boeing 747s. In 50 years China's civil air strength has increased 12-fold from 12 planes plus 17 refurbished planes to 80 in 1978, to 485 currently. President Jiang recently purchased 60 airbuses from France.
Passenger vehicles:
Number 13.2 million currently whereas before 1949 there were 51,000; in 1998 China became one of the top ten car manufacturers with annual production of 1.6 million cars and private car ownership reached 360,000.
Ships:
There are over 260,000 vessels, while pre-1949 there were 4500. China's shipping fleet is ranked 9th in the world.
Trade:
1950: foreign trade of US$1.13 billion; by 1998 - US$324 billion a 286-fold increase or 12.5% annual growth;
1949 GDP: 363 billion yuan; to 8,000 billion yuan (about US$1 trillion) in 1998-a 20-fold increase.
Communist Party membership:
In 1949: 4.5 million; recently membership reached 61 million, in which women comprise 16.6% (10 million). There are 14 million waiting to join.
Population:
Life expectancy was less than 40 years in the 1940s; now it is in the seventies. With the introduction of the One-Child Policy in the late 1970s, China's total fertility rate has reduced from 5.4 in 1971 to 1.8 in 1996 and is expected to reach zero between 2040 and 2050 with a peak in population of about 1.6 billion
Incomes:
Rural - average of 133 yuan in 1978 to 2150 in 1998
Urban - average 343 in 1978 to 5454 yuan in 1998.
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