Pre-1978 progress in China

June 6, 2025

Firstly, I should say that I agree with Jocelyn about the guidance that Sun Tzu’s The Art of War could give to the West as it already does to China. A very good article that summarises well the issues confronting China and the region.

One area that I think may need further exploration is the progress that China made prior to “opening up”. Whilst it is undoubtedly true that Mao made some massive mistakes, I think it is also important to recognise the successes of that period.

In 1949, China’s life expectancy was 35 years. That put it three years above India when it achieved independence in 1947. By 1978, China’s life expectancy had risen to 67 whilst India’s had risen to 55. Chinese life expectancy grew by 32 years in 29 chronological years. That was the fastest rate of growth ever recorded in a major country.

Also its average economic growth was impressive at 4.9% for the 1950 to 1978 period. After “opening up”, that growth rate skyrocketed to 9.8% in the period from 1978 to 2014. While pre-1978 China had the Mao-imposed mistakes, that does not take away from these achievements.