In 2018, China’s gross national income (GNI) per capita reached $9,732, higher than the average of middle-income countries, according to the latest report issued by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS).

The report, which elaborates on the country’s economic and social development over the past 70 years, shows that China’s national economy has been growing rapidly and its economic aggregate has been stepping up since the founding of the People’s Republic of China in 1949.

The country’s economic foundation was very weak when New China was established, with gross domestic product (GDP) only 67.9 billion yuan in 1952 and GDP per capita 119 yuan. Through long-term efforts, China’s GDP increased to 367.9 billion yuan in 1978, accounting for 1.8 percent of the global economy and ranking 11th in the world.

Since the reform and opening-up, China’s economy has been developing fast. In 1986, its total economic output exceeded 1 trillion yuan, and in 2000, it surpassed Italy to become the sixth-largest economy in the world. In 2010, its economic aggregate reached 41.21 trillion yuan, surpassing Japan and ranking second in the world.

Since the 18th National Congress of the Communist Party of China (CPC), China’s comprehensive national power has continued to grow. In the past three years, China’s economic aggregate has exceeded the landmark amounts of 70 trillion yuan, 80 trillion yuan and 90 trillion yuan, successively, and reached 90.03 trillion yuan in 2018, taking up nearly 16 percent of the global economy.

Calculated by constant prices, China’s GDP in 2018 is 175 times higher than in 1952, with an average annual growth rate of 8.1 percent. And specifically, from 1979 to 2018, the rate reached 9.4 percent, much higher than the global economy’s average annual growth rate, which was 2.9 percent, in the same period. And each year on average, China contributed around 18 percent to world economic growth, second only to the US.

Moreover, China’s financial strength has been getting stronger as economic aggregate expands, providing a solid guarantee for economic growth and improvement in people’s livelihood. From 1951 to 2018, China’s fiscal revenue increased at an average annual rate of 12.5 percent, with the average rate from 1979 to 2018 hitting 13.6 percent.