In the 50s of the last century, China was one of the poorest communist countries in the world, whose power was in the hands of Prime Minister Mao Zedong. The head of the country, trying to lead China out of poverty and poverty, tried to carry out reforms that only worsened the situation. From the policy of the “Big Leap Forward” in the late fifties, a prolonged famine began in the country, as a result of which a huge number of citizens died.
The deepest economic crisis has become synonymous with the PRC.
Everything changed only after the death of Mao Zedong. Deng Xiaoping came to power – a politician who had never held the post of head of the country, but was the de facto leader of the country from the late 70s to the early 90s. During Xiaoping’s time, the Chinese economy began to rise. The country was opening up to the whole world, foreign investors invested money in the domestic economy of China. The attitude of the authorities towards the peasants also changed: they were allowed to work for themselves.
In the mid-90s, China took a huge step towards an economic miracle: the Chinese government signed an agreement on joining the World Trade Organization, and also annexed Hong Kong, which previously belonged to Great Britain.
Thanks to the accession of Hong Kong, previously inaccessible opportunities have opened up for China: more than 70% of foreign investment still comes to China through the city-state, and China also sends 60% of its investments abroad through Hong Kong.
American manufacturers and investors began to manufacture their goods in China, where to this day a huge number of residents are cheap labor.
Despite the fact that China has not been a poor country for several decades, other global problems have formed there: scientists have found that two weeks spent in Beijing can be equated to one smoked pack of cigarettes. The poor population of China is forced to work from an early age on rice harvesting and manufacturing American gadgets. Also, due to the poor ecology, China is engaged in the largest purchases of forests from other countries, which leads to a decrease in the natural microflora in the countries where deforestation occurs.
