China Change

Introduction

The People's Republic of China lies in the east of Asia. It is not only one of the world's largest countries, but also it has a quarter of the population all over the world. Furthermore, it is a socialist country with its own characteristics, and one of the fastest developing countries. After the anti-Japanese war and civil war, China has entered a period of comprehensive development. If we talk about the changes in China in the past fifty years, there is no doubt that the economy and space industry have developed significantly. Gill (2006) found: 'In purchasing-power terms, China is the world's second largest economy, is the largest holder of foreign exchange reserves by far, and is the largest foreign creditor to the United States.' At the same time, China has made eye-catching scientific achievements, and now ranks among the world's most advanced countries in some important fields, especially, space industry. China is a rising star and it receives the global attention.

Economy

Economic development

Since 1961 China's economic developed significantly. When China began the economic reform and opened up to the outside world, is always referred to as a "riddle" by people all over the world (Qu, 2008). First of all, the riddle starts with Chinese economic system's reform. Chai and Roy point out 'The Chinese pre-reform economic system is based on the Soviet model... It changed partly by Chinese special conditions and Maoist ideology' (2006:P.29). When under the new leadership of Deng, economic modernization was given the priority over the building of socialism (Chai & Roy, 2006:41). Chinese reforms have been going on for almost half a century. Secondly, the rapid development of economy surprised the whole world's financiers. To now, market economy is increasingly perfect. According to the National Bureau of Statistics of China (2005), the Chinese rate of economic growth increased from between5 to 6 per cent during 1961-78 to about 10 per cent during 1980-2004. Chinese gross domestic product (GDP) ranked number 2 after the USA since 1999 (National Bureau Statistics of China, 2005). In fact, according to the World Bank's calculation, China is poised to overtake the USA and become the world's largest economy in 2020 (Chai & Roy, 2006). Thirdly, in the challenges of globalization, there are opportunities for Chinese new reform and adjustment of economic growth. It can be avoided the happening of the financial crisis and the inflation. Chinese economy has received increasingly attention from all over the world, because of the rapid economic growth and the improvement of its economic system.

Some mistakes in economic policy

On the other hand, the leaders made some big mistakes when they were seeking the way which is most suitable for China's development. Some of those mistakes were enormous influence on China in the past. For instance, Great Leap Forward which is a development way that focused on production but ignored the facts. This mistake had led to a large number of wasting of resources. Fortunately, the Chinese government quickly corrected the mistake, and returned the right method of development. It is obvious that Chinese government learned from these errors, thus China can develop smoothly now.

The effect of economic change

Chinese citizens are the biggest beneficiaries because of the rapid development of economy. People's living standards have been greatly improved in the period of the fastest developed. The mainly showed in these five parts, as follows: food, clothing, housing, transportation and entertainment. Take transportation for example, the state investment will mainly focus on roads, airports and various basic infrastructure. To begin, number and scale of the transportation line were expanded. Furthermore, the quality level of transportation has increased. Provide the safeguard for the people travel or transportation of goods. Finally, the structure of conveyance has improved. The railway, aviation and shipping became the main body of traffic system (Yunnan Transportation Hall,