Lima Climate Change Conference: Compromise Limits Achievements

China’s status as a developing country has not changed. China’s per capita GDP in 2013 stood at approximately US $7,000, almost half the US $13,460 world average, ranking around 100th, behind many developing countries including Botswana, Turkmenistan, Dominica, and Montenegro.

Moreover, China’s per capita GDP, at less than one seventh that of the U.S., is the lowest of the five permanent members of the UN Security Council. The per capita GDP of Russia, which ranks fourth among the five permanent members, is double that of China. Among the BRICS, China falls behind Russia, Brazil, and South Africa in this respect. 

Although the world’s second largest economy, China cannot compete with the U.S. – the world’s No. 1. There is a considerable gap between the two nations in such fields as science and technology, education, and agricultural production. Take agriculture, for example. Measured by added value, the agricultural labor/population ratio, and agricultural productivity, China’s agricultural modernization level in 2008 was more than 108 years behind the U.S. and 36 years behind its neighbor South Korea, according to the Overview of China Modernization Report 2012: A Study of Agricultural Modernization released by the China Center for Modernization Research of the Chinese Academy of Sciences.

Moreover, at least 100 million people in China live below the World Bank poverty line of US $1 per day.

Despite this, “It is an intrinsic requirement for China, which is still under development, to proactively tackle climate change, to build a beautiful country, and to achieve sustainable development. Meanwhile, it takes on responsibility for the world,” Xie Zhenhua said, concluding, “This is not required by others, but by ourselves.”