China's GDP per capita exceeded 10,000 U.S. dollars for this first time ever last year. In 2001, the number was only 1,000 U.S. dollars, which means the figure grew tenfold in 18 years. On the other side of the world, it took the U.S. nearly 40 years and 24 years for the UK to achieve that.

According to World Bank data, 40 years ago, when China's economic modernization began, its GDP per capita was 10 percent of Latin America's and a third of sub-Saharan Africa. China caught up with sub-Saharan Africa in 1996, and is today more than six times higher. It took a bit longer with Latin America, but it finally began to surpass it in 2017. And, based on forecast growth rates, it will quickly leave it behind.