2019 marks the 70th anniversary of People’s Republic of China, and 40th year anniversary of the United Nations and UNDP presence and partnership in China. The Special Edition report reflects on the remarkable changes that have taken place. It takes stock not only of the economic achievements often and widely reported, but, more importantly of the wider range of sustainable human development progress achieved by China.

A key metric in the China report is the Human Development Index (HDI), useful for drawing cross-country comparisons in human development progress. China’s advances in this regard have been uniquely impressive; it is the only country in the world that progressed from a “low human development country” in 1990 to a “high human development country” today.