China's per capita GDP set to advance

CHINA'S per capita gross domestic product will reach US$3,000 by 2010, a decade ahead of the schedule set by the 2002 CPC National Congress, a government think tank expert said.

Lu Xueyi, an expert with the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, said the figure would reach US$6,000 in 2020 if it maintained the current growth rate.

It was also aided by the Chinese currency's continued appreciation against the US dollar. The country's per capita GDP had grown by about US$200 annually in the last two years to US$2,200 in 2007, he estimated.

China had been in the fast lane in recent years as the nation took two years to raise its per capita GDP to US$1,000 from US$800 in 2000. It took another four years to reach US$2,000.