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It didn't feel like cheerleading to me, the very section you quoted is pointing out the part that is most troubling about China's rise, that they seem to be doi

It didn't feel like cheerleading to me, the very section you quoted is pointing out the part that is most troubling about China's rise, that they seem to be doing it without western freedoms. This is contrary to the ideology of the cold war that the market economy of the West won because of western liberties - freedom of association, freedom of religion, freedom of speech, free elections. China's incredible transformation is happening without those things.

logicchains 1y ago
>China's incredible transformation There's nothing incredible about a GDP per capita of $15k, less than half the GDP of Korea, Japan or Taiwan. Slightly less even than places like Romania and Turkey. The only thing impressive about it that China's population is so large that the absolute GDP can be high even when the GDP per person is low. But the purpose of a government/economic system is to improve the standard of living of its citizens, and by that metric China is far behind other East Asian nations.
- nearbuy 1y ago
  It was $15k in 2017. Now their GDP per capita (PPP) is about $29k. It's growing fast.
  - alessandru 1y ago
    you people realize that shanghai has world-class cost of living? like people there probably make 30k+ just to live there, but the rural, who aren't even allowed to consider living in shanghai bring that average down again. this avg without noting the median is about as misleading as saying people in america all make 80k. (this is household income so divide by avg household size 1.7 or whatever) the ai had older data but it proves the point: "While the average disposable income for urban residents in 2019 was approximately 39,244 CNY (roughly $5,800 USD), rural residents earned significantly less at 14,389 CNY (roughly $2,100 USD)"
    - nearbuy 1y ago
      Not sure why you're telling me this. I was giving an update for the parent comment which was complaining that China's GDP per capita was only $15k and much lower than Japan and Korea. You can tell them why they shouldn't compare GDP per capita across countries if you want.
  - dgfitz 1y ago
    It’s worth mentioning that the economic numbers reported from China about China are not terribly trustworthy.
- hombre_fatal 1y ago
  GDP per capita doesn't tell you the standard of living though. What about things like the affordability of things (daily stuff, vehicles, etc.) and metrics like home ownership?

logicchains 1y ago

>China's incredible transformation There's nothing incredible about a GDP per capita of $15k, less than half the GDP of Korea, Japan or Taiwan. Slightly less even than places like Romania and Turkey. The only thing impressive about it that China's population is so large that the absolute GDP can be high even when the GDP per person is low. But the purpose of a government/economic system is to improve the standard of living of its citizens, and by that metric China is far behind other East Asian nations.

nearbuy 1y ago
It was $15k in 2017. Now their GDP per capita (PPP) is about $29k. It's growing fast.
- alessandru 1y ago
  you people realize that shanghai has world-class cost of living? like people there probably make 30k+ just to live there, but the rural, who aren't even allowed to consider living in shanghai bring that average down again. this avg without noting the median is about as misleading as saying people in america all make 80k. (this is household income so divide by avg household size 1.7 or whatever) the ai had older data but it proves the point: "While the average disposable income for urban residents in 2019 was approximately 39,244 CNY (roughly $5,800 USD), rural residents earned significantly less at 14,389 CNY (roughly $2,100 USD)"
  - nearbuy 1y ago
    Not sure why you're telling me this. I was giving an update for the parent comment which was complaining that China's GDP per capita was only $15k and much lower than Japan and Korea. You can tell them why they shouldn't compare GDP per capita across countries if you want.
- dgfitz 1y ago
  It’s worth mentioning that the economic numbers reported from China about China are not terribly trustworthy.
hombre_fatal 1y ago
GDP per capita doesn't tell you the standard of living though. What about things like the affordability of things (daily stuff, vehicles, etc.) and metrics like home ownership?