In just 70 years, Chinese life expectancy doubled to 78.6

China's economic development over the past seven decades has been well documented, but the vast improvement in the health of its people is less so.

To put it simply — albeit a bit dramatically — if I were born in 1949 when the People's Republic of China was founded, I would probably be staring down at death already at my current age of 31.

A baby born more than seven decades ago in China would live on average to the age of 35. But one born last year is expected to reach 78.6 years old, which is higher than the average of 77.5 years in the United States.