Green mountains, lucid waters golden assets

Editor's note: This year marks the 70th anniversary of the people's congress system. Five experts share their views with China Daily on how the rule of law and whole-process people's democracy safeguard the overall development of the country.

China's reform and opening-up have unleashed untold economic forces. China's per capita GDP of $156.8 in 1978 was significantly lower than another major developing country, India ($206.07). But reform and opening-up transformed China's development landscape, with the country moving from being a planned economy to a market-oriented economy.

The emergence of new economic forces, thanks to reform and opening-up, contributed to double-digit GDP growth for an unprecedented three decades, which is unparalleled in history. Consequently, by 2023, China's per capita GDP had skyrocketed to $12,614.1 compared with India's $2,484.8. In other words, China's per capita GDP, which was only 76 percent of India's in 1978, became more than five times that of India in the next 45 years.