Rural Poverty Biggest Obstacle to China's Rise: NZZ

Chinese leader Xi Jinping has declared victory over poverty, but development economist Scott Rozelle says it’s not poverty that’s the issue, it’s the low incomes, and the big gap between urban and rural areas, Neue Zürcher Zeitung reported.

The country’s manufacturing sector is reaching its limits, and the construction sector is also topping out. So what drives a high-income economy? Services.

But China has no consumer services, Rozelle says, especially since their social services are very limited. For this reason, it’s too early to say whether China will someday be one of the world’s leading powers.

Read the full report: Neue Zürcher Zeitung

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George Russell

George Russell is a freelance writer and editor based in Hong Kong who has lived in Asia since 1996. His work has been published in the Financial Times, The Wall Street Journal, Bloomberg, New York Post, Variety, Forbes and the South China Morning Post.