ABSTRACT
The economy has been among the most successful aspects of China’s development since 1990. Industry, agriculture, pasture and infrastructure have all improved dramatically, and the standard of living of most people has risen very rapidly and significantly, with poverty being greatly reduced. China has been welded far more closely into the world economy than ever before and its accession to the World Trade Organisation (WTO) in December 2001 has not only been a culmination of this process, but a means to accelerate it even faster. These successes have not been without problems, especially in terms of environmental degradation and widening inequalities, but they have radically improved the livelihood of the great majority of China’s people.
