“Assess how far the results of economic growth have been beneficial to Chinese people.”
Economic growth is the most powerful tool for improving standards of living in countries and reducing poverty. The very benefits that Chinese people reap is evident even on the streets of the cities — handphones and cars, all made available to the Chinese population due to rising income levels and technological advances from economic growth. However, some argue that we cannot overlook the cost of this rapid economic growth, namely the impact on the environment, widening rural-urban income gap and also the loss of culture and heritage due to modernisation necessary for economic growth. I argue that the benefits that economic growth has brought to Chinese
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The results of rapid economic growth has benefited the Chinese people by vastly improving their living conditions and raising their income levels. The annual disposable income for urban and rural households has both increased, particularly in the cities, where wages rose exponentially hence giving them more disposable income.
Deng’s market reforms, the cause of the rapid economic growth has caused rising domestic consumption and allowed China to reap the benefits of trade and attract foreign direct investments (FDI)
Rapid industrialisation paved the way for China’s economic growth, the sprout of new cities and factories that require power results in a huge increase in energy demand. China’s solution of using the cheapest alternative, coal, causing pollution levels to soar and hence developing at a huge economic cost to the environment at 8.9% of GNI. As a result, air pollution levels in China has reached an extremely unhealthy level, with more and more cases of respiratory illnesses occurring in China and cities enveloped in smog. The problem of factory waste disposal in China is also present because of the mindset of blindly increasing profits by all manners possible. At the period