China remains largest developing country: National Bureau of Statistics

Beijing. March 16. Silkroadnews - China is still the world’s largest developing country, despite the improvement of the Engel coefficient score, a spokesman for the National Bureau of Statistics Mao Shengyong said, Xinhua reports.
The Engel coefficient is an indicator of the share of income spent on food, which reflects the standard of living of a nation. China’s Engel coefficient fell to 29.3% in 2017, approaching the indicator for affluent nations established by the UN - within a range of 20-30%.
However, the single indicator does not mean that China has become a developed country, it is necessary to take into account more factors such as per capita income, average GDP, national income distribution, average educational level and life expectancy, Mao said.
According to Mao, China was the world’s second largest economy in 2017, but the average per capita GDP at market exchange rates was less than $9,000, which is still a relatively low figure by the world’s standards.
He also added, the international status of China as the world’s largest developing country has not changed.