Abstract
In the early 19th century, China was emerging as a new major economic power on the world stage. In 2006, her GDP made her the 4th largest economy in the world. Since the late 1970's, China has made the modernization of its economy the No.1 priority. She has gradually abandoned the plan for the market and mobilized its vast resources of skill ' work and openly benefited from globalization by becoming the factory of the world. An investment effort has been made to modernize the industry and develop infrastructure, employing a workforce that has doubled over the last 20 years and reached 770 million people. Labor productivity has increased thanks to the rural exodus and to the implementation of new production techniques and management. China has attracted foreign investment that creates massive new production capacity in the sectors of the domestic and international demand.
The standard of living of the Chinese has improved considerably, even though China has become a very unequal society where a gap is widening between the different social classes.
