China’s development in nine numbers

1.4 billion

is China’s population. The figure was less than one billion in the early 1980s. It peaked in the early 2020s and has been declining ever since. As a result, China has ceded the title of the world’s most populous country to India. 1)

About 800 million 

people in China have been lifted out of extreme poverty between the late 1970s and the early 2020s, contributing about three quarters of the global reduction in the number of people living in extreme poverty. 2)

$ 19.6 trillion

was China’s GDP in 2025, making it the second-largest economy in the world after the US ($ 30.8 trillion). In 2005, China’s GDP stood at 2.3 trillion (5th in the world). 3)

$ 3.8 trillion 

was the value of China’s exports of goods and services in 2025. No other country exported more. 4)

44.3 % 

of China’s merchandise exports went to Global South countries in 2024 – significantly more than to the US (14.7 %) or Western European countries (13.8 %). 5)

More than 900

infrastructure projects in the Global South were financed by China between 2008 and 2024, totaling more than $ 315 billion. These contributed to developments in transportation, energy, information and communication as well as water, sanitation and waste. 6)

$ 62.2 billion

was the amount of debt stock owed by African countries to China’s public lenders in 2024, accounting for about nine percent of Africa’s external debt. Additionally, African countries owed $ 20.1 billion to China’s private lenders. China is Africa’s biggest bilateral lender. 7)

29.2 %

of the world’s total greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions came from China in 2024 – more than the combined emissions of the next three largest emitting economies, the US (11.1 %), India (8.2 %) and the EU (5.9 %). 8)

43.9 % 

of the world’s renewable energy capacity is installed in China. Fossil fuels provide 58 % of China’s electricity. 9), 10) 

Sources

1. UN Population Fund, Population Data Portal
2. World Bank, 2022: Four decades of poverty reduction in China. Drivers, insights for the world, and the way ahead.
3. International Monetary Fund datamapper
4. General Administration of Customs, People’s Republic of China
5. S&P Global, 2025: China Inc. heads to Global South in the age of tariffs.
6. Ray, R. et al., 2025: Reviving Chinese development finance in the Global South. Boston University Global Development Policy Center.
7. ONE Data, Overview African Debt
8. European Commission, 2025: GHG emissions of all world countries.
9. International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA), 2026: Renewable capacity statistics 2026.
10. Ember: Key energy data for China

Lucia Deon studies communication science.
euz.editor@dandc.eu