Chinese History and Statistics -- Page 16

Health

Life expectancy has increased greatly since 1949, when it was only about 30 years. General public-health conditions have been significantly improved and major diseases have been brought under control, resulting in a steady reduction in the mortality rate. The number of hospitals increased from 2,600 in 1949 to 59,693 in 1986 and the number of clinics rose from 769 to 127,575. The number of physicians--both Western-style doctors and doctors of traditional Chinese medicine--has also increased dramatically. Health-care and other social-welfare benefits are provided by work units.

Economic Activity

Since 1949, China has had a centrally planned economy based on the Stalinist model. From 1953 to 1990, seven five-year plans were implemented to coordinate economic development. The First Five-Year Plan (1953-57) concentrated on the development of heavy industry financed with Soviet assistance. The Second Five-Year Plan (1958-62) was interrupted by Mao Zedong's radical measures of the Great Leap Forward and the establishment of rural communes. The new policies caused a great setback for China's economic development. A period of readjustment followed in 1962-65. The Third and Fourth Five-Year plans (1966-70 and 1971-75) were disrupted by the Cultural Revolution. An ambitious Ten-Year Plan (1976-85) calling for modernization in all sectors was inaugurated in 1978 but was soon abandoned in favor of new adjustments and reforms. In September 1982 the government adopted a new program designed to quadruple the gross annual value of the nation's industrial and agricultural output by the year 2000.