According to data from the International Monetary Fund (IMF), annual per capita GDP in China rose to $5,414 in 2011, meaning that China has reached a stage of economic development where it can no longer rely on low-cost investment to keep growing.
When the per capita GDP of Japan, South Korea and many nations in Europe rose above the $4,000 mark, these countries adjusted their industrial structures, developed their heavy industries, implemented strategic export policies and replaced labor-intensive with technology-intensive growth. In a little more than a decade, several of the countries which took such steps were able to see their per capita GDP double.
At the same time, many of these countries began shaking up the composition of their industrial makeup, with an emphasis on developing the service sector as the base of their economies.
With many now wondering what the future has in store of China's economy, clearly there is much the nation could learn from the developmental experiences of other countries across the world.
The author is Zhang Monan, a researcher with the State Information Center.