Wealthier and Healthier? China's Recent Health Achievements in Comparative Perspective

Abstract

We examine whether China's remarkable reduction in income poverty has been accompanied by comparable progress in health. Our findings are fourfold: (a) province-level rates of improvement in life expectancy were higher in the 1990s than in the 1970s and the 1980s, and were lowest in the 1980s. (b) Even in the 1990s, when the province-level rates of improvement in life expectancy were highest, they were lower than for many countries with similar initial life expectancy level (although higher than the average for all such countries). (c) China's life expectancy improvement between 1980 and 2000 was achieved much more quickly by almost all other countries considered, and in particular by most lower middle income countries that had similar life expectancy improvements. Similar conclusions are drawn from an analysis of China's life expectancy improvements relative to two other sets of comparator countries: selected presently rich countries and high-growth East Asian countries. (d) Even those Chinese provinces which performed best over the period experienced rates of improvement that were significantly lower than for comparator countries.

China's experience of reducing health deprivations has been notably less impressive than its record of income poverty reduction. Our conclusions suggest the need for China to invest in the development and maintenance of its public health infrastructure.

Keywords: China, health, life expectancy

JEL Classification: I0, I1, I3, O1, O53