Balancing the economy with the environment

This year marks the 40th anniversary of China's reform and opening-up. In 1978, China's per capita GDP was $156.40 - the global average was $1,973.79. In 2017, the corresponding figures for China and the world were $8,826.99 and $10,714.47 - an increase of 56.4 times and 5.43 times, respectively. In 1978, about three-quarters of Chinese people lived in absolute poverty. By the end of this year, the corresponding figure is expected to be less than 1 percent - a rate of progress never seen in human history.

I first visited China in 1981, at the invitation of the Chinese authorities as an adviser to the South-North water transfer mega project, which continues to be one of China's most ambitious and complex infrastructure development projects. I spent one month travelling across China, and since I was a foreign national, I had to get special permission to travel to the cities and towns along the Yangtze River.

Ruing the missed chance in Shenzhen