New Perspectives on China’s Economic Development – China’s Economic Growth: Is It Sustainable?

China’s sustained high rate of growth has surprised most observers. Professor Gary Jefferson’s talk will explore the underlying structural conditions that account for this rapid growth and the likelihood that these conditions will persist. Among the conditions that are driving the rise in Chinese living standards are technology transfers associated with China’s opening to the world economy and the migration of rural workers from low income regions to the economy’s leading sectors. At the same time, several factors are emerging that have the potential to upset China’s drive to catch up to the developed economies. These include environmental deterioration, the inability to provide key public goods, notably public health services, rising income inequality, and the escalating civil conflict associated with these challenges.