Doubts over China being a developing nation baseless

Thanks to its rapid economic growth, China has not only become the world's second-largest economy but also cultivated many high-tech companies, including Alibaba, Huawei and Tencent. But it is wrong to assume, as some Western media reports do, that China is a "developed country" that is trying to challenge the United States' dominant global status.

In the 70 years since its founding, the People's Republic of China has made many remarkable achievements. But despite that, China remains a developing country, and has much to do to become a developed country.

First, China's development is uneven. Its coastal provinces are developed compared with its inland regions. For example, in the eastern region, the per capita GDP of cities such as Beijing, Shanghai and Tianjin is more than $13,000, equal to that of a lower-level high-income country. But some places in the western region are less developed, and their per capita GDP and per capita income both are comparatively low.