A dramatic rise in quality of life

The impact of China's economic reforms in the last three decades has been as awe-inspiring, if not more, than the country's growth rate during the period, according to a leading international economist.

As a result of the Industrial Revolution, living standards (in Britain) increased by 50 to 75 percent in a lifetime (then only about 40 years), said former president of Harvard University, Lawrence Summers. At the current growth rate in China, living standards rise 100-fold, or 10,000 percent.

Between 1978 and 2007, China's real GDP grew annually at an average of 9.8 percent, increasing more than 13 times in real terms, while per capita GDP rose from 381 yuan to 15,973 yuan.