In conclusion China's economic growth has increased the countries human development index significantly. Prior to the beginning of the 1978 economic reforms, China was self-sufficient. Before the introduction of SEZ’s, in Ancient China, there was little to no interaction with other countries in terms of trade or political communication. This situation lasted in China for several thousands of years until the middle of the nineteenth century when the British first opened the Chinese door. SEZs were a new concept that were introduced as a part of the 1978 economic reforms to open up China to the world market and increase the trade and investment. It was also used as a space to test new social/political reforms. The SEZs were given a different economic rule set to rest of China with reduced taxes and easier development of business laws, this encouraged many foreign investors to come and purchase factories, buy shares and provide a source of cash flow into China’s economy. We can see how this impacted the GDP of china by looking at the GDP calculation formula, the rise of foreign investment and exports.
However, China's economic and social development has been extremely unequal. Industrialization created social inequality between rural and urban areas. In the last 25 years social inequality spurred rapid urbanization. In an attempt to control urbanization the government introduced the hukou system. Which in term led to a massive increase in industrialization yet it clearly increased the inequality between the rural population from the urban population in the PRC. It did this by giving more inequalities to the rural population of China and giving more advantages to the urban population. The hukou system urbanized china by providing a balance between agricultural working fields and urban, modern job, as well as binding people together with their communities.
Rather than limiting urban growth, the hukou system created socail inequality between rural to urban migrants and urban residents in the city of Beijing. In comparison to their urban counterparts, most unskilled rural migrants are being employed in low income industries such as construction and manufacturing. Low per capita income is one of the reasons China is considered a developing country. The hukou system does not allow migrants to participate in public housing programes either. Skyrocketing real-estate prices force them to live in factory dormitories, basements and bomb shelters instead. Without active hukou registration, rural migrants are not entitled to public services such as free healthcare and education. China's commercialized heatlhcare system can prove too expensive for underpaid rural migrants, therefore, they only seek medical help in case of emergency. The above situation contributed to low life expectancy and high child mortality amongst rural migrants. Low life expectancy and high child mortality are one of the factors of Human Development Index, therefore the above issue contributes to China's low rank and developing status. Rural migrants are not entitled to public education either. Their parents are forced to contribute towards their children's education. Therefore, up to 8 million school aged children do not attend primary or secondary education. Being a primary factor in the Human Development Index, low school enrollment amongst rural migrants contributes to China's low rank and developing status.
However, China's economic and social development has been extremely unequal. Industrialization created social inequality between rural and urban areas. In the last 25 years social inequality spurred rapid urbanization. In an attempt to control urbanization the government introduced the hukou system. Which in term led to a massive increase in industrialization yet it clearly increased the inequality between the rural population from the urban population in the PRC. It did this by giving more inequalities to the rural population of China and giving more advantages to the urban population. The hukou system urbanized china by providing a balance between agricultural working fields and urban, modern job, as well as binding people together with their communities.
Rather than limiting urban growth, the hukou system created socail inequality between rural to urban migrants and urban residents in the city of Beijing. In comparison to their urban counterparts, most unskilled rural migrants are being employed in low income industries such as construction and manufacturing. Low per capita income is one of the reasons China is considered a developing country. The hukou system does not allow migrants to participate in public housing programes either. Skyrocketing real-estate prices force them to live in factory dormitories, basements and bomb shelters instead. Without active hukou registration, rural migrants are not entitled to public services such as free healthcare and education. China's commercialized heatlhcare system can prove too expensive for underpaid rural migrants, therefore, they only seek medical help in case of emergency. The above situation contributed to low life expectancy and high child mortality amongst rural migrants. Low life expectancy and high child mortality are one of the factors of Human Development Index, therefore the above issue contributes to China's low rank and developing status. Rural migrants are not entitled to public education either. Their parents are forced to contribute towards their children's education. Therefore, up to 8 million school aged children do not attend primary or secondary education. Being a primary factor in the Human Development Index, low school enrollment amongst rural migrants contributes to China's low rank and developing status.