number of people * average annual income = $'s available for buying things Pretty much any number multiplied by 1 billion people = a lot. As the average Chine

number of people * average annual income = $'s available for buying things Pretty much any number multiplied by 1 billion people = a lot. As the average Chinese citizen becomes better off the result of that calculation will go up really fast. If the average annual income of Chinese citizens goes up by 1%, for example, that translates into an enormous amount of money available within the Chinese economy. Compare the potential for growth with western countries. China has a long way to go before achieving parity with most western countries. Poorer countries have the potential for rates of economic growth that vastly outstrip countries that are already wealthy. Whether it will happen is another matter but the potential is there.