ABSTRACT
From the start of the Great Leap Forward in 1958 through the conclusion of the Third Plenary Session of the Chinese Communist Party's Eleventh Central Committee in December 1978, the material situation of the Chinese people was, at best, a matter of informed speculation in the outside world. Even as China's statistical system recuperates from earlier injuries and develops new abilities to gather, process, and analyze information, data on poverty are likely to remain a problem area. Placing a country's record in international perspective requires comparisons with other countries. For China, this presents special problems. In terms of population, diversity, history, and administrative requirements, mainland China is unique. The ascent of household purchasing power as an economic force in modern China would have important implications for the formulation of patterns of national poverty. China's data on death rates for boys and girls are taken from vital registration sources for 1957 and 1975.
