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C O V E Rnegotiations on climate change, in theWTO’s Doha talks, at various meetingsof the United Nations and at theAPEC summit. In fact, most of theimportant multilateral negotiations arestalled because the US (with Europeand Japan standing behind it) insiststhat China give up its developingcountrystatus and take on the obligationsof a developed country.It’s not only China, of course.They also want India and Brazil to dolikewise. And often also mentionedare South Africa and the wealthier orbigger South-East Asian countries.The main focus, however, isChina. There has been a growing respectfor or rather fear of China, thatit is growing so fast and has becomeso big and powerful it might swallowup the Western world in a decade ortwo.Developed or developing?So, the question is pertinent. IsChina a developed country?The answer depends on what criteriaare used. In absolute terms,China is indeed a big economy. Itsgross national product (GNP) is secondonly to that of the United States.It has become the biggest emitter ofgreenhouse gases, having overtakenthe US.But this is mainly because Chinais a big country in terms of population.With 1.3 billion people, it’s theworld’s most populous country. Indiais not far behind with 1.2 billionpeople and is on track to overtakeChina in two decades.However, despite the mighty imageit has been given by the worldmedia, China looks like a very ordinarydeveloping country once we considerper capita indicators.Whether one is a developed ordeveloping country is defined by theUN and by the International MonetaryFund (IMF) and World Bank, and themost important criterion is income percapita.By that yardstick, China is verymuch a developing country.The IMF, in its latest World EconomicOutlook, classifies China as adeveloping country, with a per capitagross domestic product (GDP) in2010 of $4,382, ranked a lowly 91 of184 countries in the world.Six African countries (EquatorialGuinea, Gabon, Botswana, Mauritius,South Africa and Namibia) had GDPper capita levels higher than China.China’s GDP per capita was less thana tenth that of the United States, whichhad $46,860. Luxembourg had thehighest ranking, with $108,952.The World Bank classifies countriesinto four income groups. In itslatest report, economies were dividedaccording to 2008 gross national incomeper capita according to the followingranges of income:• low-income countries with GNIper capita below $1,006• lower-middle-income countrieswith GNI per capita between $1,006and $3,975• upper-middle-income countrieswith GNI per capita between $3,976and $12,275• high-income countries withGNI per capita above $12,276.The World Bank classifies alllow- and middle-income countries asdeveloping. According to the Bank’sfigures, China’s GNP per capita was$2,050 in 2006, $2,490 in 2007,$3,050 in 2008, $3,650 in 2009 and$4,260 in 2010. In fact, China has inrecent years been in the category oflower-middle-income countries untilit crossed over to the upper-middleincomegroup in 2010.Economists also use the measureof GNP per capita in ‘gross purchasingpower’ (or GPP). This is to takeinto account differences in the cost ofliving in different countries. Peopleliving in countries with a lower costof living could enjoy a higher livingstandard than their country’s GNPimplies.In 2010, in GDP (at GPP) percapita terms, China was lower still atNo. 95 with $7,544, just below Ecuadorand Bosnia and Herzegovina, andjust above Albania, El Salvador,Tonga and Guyana.The UN Development Programme(UNDP) has a Human DevelopmentIndex (HDI) that measuresquality of life in terms of income,schooling, life expectancy and so on.UNDP’s Human Development Report2011 shows China at No. 101 of 187countries with an HDI of 0.687 andin a category of ‘medium human development’.It is below many otherdeveloping countries in the very highor high human development categories,such as Chile, Argentina, Barbados,Uruguay, Cuba, Bahamas,Panama, Malaysia, Libya, Grenada,Lebanon, Venezuela, Mauritius, Jamaica,Ecuador, Brazil, Iran, Tongoand Tunisia.What about climate change?China, again mainly because of itshuge population, is the top greenhouse-gas-emittingcountry, with atotal of 7,232 megatonnes of CO 2equivalent in 2005. The US is secondwith 6,914 Mtonnes, and Indiafifth with 1,859 Mtonnes.But in per capita terms, China’semissions level was 5.5 CO 2equivalentper person, ranked 84 in theworld. By contrast, the US’s per capitaemission was 23.4 CO 2equivalent,Australia 27.3, Canada 22.9, Russia13.7, Germany 11.9, Singapore 11.4,Japan 10.5, Malaysia 9.2, South Africa9.0, Brazil 5.4, Indonesia 2.7,India 1.7, Tanzania 1.5 and Rwanda0.4.Thus, as No. 91 in the world inGDP per capita, No. 101 in the HumanDevelopment Index and No. 84in per capita emissions, China is lookinglike, and is, a middle-level or evenlower-middle-level developing country,with not only all the developedcountries but also many developingcountries ahead of it.China also shares the same characteristicsof many developing countries.More than 700 million of its 1.3billion people live in rural areas, andin 2008 there was a large imbalance,with the urban disposable householdincome 3.3 times bigger on averagethan in rural areas.According to China’s own standard,43 million Chinese are low-income(below $160 a year). By thehigher UN standard, 150 million peopleare poor, living on less than $1 aday.Each year, 12 million people arenewly added to the job market, outnumberingthe population of Greece,THIRD WORLD RESURGENCE No 255/25622