Development Trends of Chinese-Style Modernization: A Perspective from Changes of Regional Per Capita GDP (2001—2035)

Regional disparities in development have long been a defining feature of China's national reality. As one of the countries with the widest variations in physical geography, demographic resources and socioeconomic conditions, China has seen profound shifts in the economic landscape of its 31 provinces, autonomous regions and municipalities since the start of the 21st century. Measured in 2021 international dollars at purchasing-power-parity (PPP), provincial per capita GDP moved from "one China, four worlds" in 2001 (low-income, lower-middle-income, upper-middle-income and high-income) to "one China, three worlds" in 2010 (lower-middle-income, upper-middle-income and high-income), and further to "one China, two worlds" in 2024 (upper-middle-income and high-income). Projections suggest that by 2030 China will approach "one China, one world, " with every region entering the high-income bracket; by 2035, per capita GDP in all 31 jurisdictions is expected to surpass the OECD's lower high-income threshold, making China the world's most populous moderately developed country and enabling it to basically realize her socialist modernization on schedule.