China and the 21st Century

The direction of China and the direction of Asia as a whole are two very different things. In a way it is impossible to truly name one “biggest” challenge for the worlds’ largest continent. However, being a continent leader, the challenges China faces can be reflected in the region as a whole.

President Xi Jinping has plans to improve the
standards of living for his people.
photo courtesy of The Telegraph

With that in mind it seems to me that China’s largest challenge in the 21^st century is its continued climb toward Western standards of living.  China needs to take a very holistic approach on this issue given that it is so multi-faceted.  The first part of tackling this challenge will be continuing to grow the economy in a stable and sustainable way.  CNBC explained that President Xi Jinping is looking to create the “China Dream.”  This dream has two deadlines, the centennial of the Communist Party in 2021 and the centennial of the People’s Republic of China in 2049.  The long and short of this plan is to grow the wealth of the middle class to comparable levels of other industrialized countries and to expand China’s historical greatness in the process.  This will include an extensive anti-corruption campaign as well as multiple economic reforms in the near future. 

The second part of this challenge will be promoting the physical well being of its citizens.   Gallup explained that from 2004 to 2013, the percentage of China’s GDP spent on healthcare rose from 4.7% to 5.6%.  However, due to unequal distribution of this wealth, there are many groups who still suffer in at least one category of physical well being (as outlined by Gallup).  These groups include the young, the elderly, and those with low income.  The categories of well being were purpose (liking what you do), social (having a support system), financial (stable financials), community (having pride in where you live) and physical (personal health).  Gallup outlined how 21% of the Chinese population is “thriving” under these categories while 5% is “suffering.”  Those in-between are “struggling.”  These numbers are pretty good compared to world averages, where 24% of the the world is “thriving” and 11% is “suffering”.  The challenge will be to continue to improve upon those numbers.  While part of that equation is definitely an increase in GDP per capita, an improvement in living conditions is also necessary. 

This is where the improvement of China’s environment comes in.  Right now it is in hot water.  The Council for Foreign relations lays out the situation pretty bluntly. 

“As the world's largest source of carbon emissions, China is responsible for a third of the planet's greenhouse gas output and has sixteen of the world's twenty most polluted cities. Life expectancy in the north has decreased by 5.5 years due to air pollution, and severe water contamination and scarcity have compounded land deterioration problems. Environmental degradation cost the country roughly 9 percent of its gross national income.”

However, not all is lost.  China and the United States agreed to an emissions deal last year that target 2030 as a deadline to significantly cut carbon emissions.  Whether China stays true to this promise will have a large effect on the standards of living for its people.