BEIJING - CHINA'S 30 years of economic reform have brought about profound changes in the world's most populous nation. A look at the statistics, and a comparison between 1978 and now, shows what this means:

ECONOMY: China is a major power today mainly because of its huge export-driven economy, now on the way to overtaking Germany as the third-largest in the world. It has come a long way from 1978, when the gross domestic product, at current prices, stood at 364.5 billion yuan. By 2007, it had grown 68-fold to 25.1 trillion yuan.

FOREIGN TRADE: Foreign trade has defined China's miraculous rise during the reform years.

In 1978, China's total trade with the outside world was US$20.6 billion and it ran a deficit of US$1.1 billion. In 2007, trade had risen 105-fold to US$2.17 trillion, and the deficit had been turned into an enormous surplus of US$262 billion.

EDUCATION: Education used to be free in the cities in China but in the post-reform years it has become a major expense for many families. However, it is undeniable that education has exploded, especially at university level. In 1978, nine people left university with a post-graduate degree. In 2007, that figure had risen to 311,839.

POPULATION: When reforms began, China had the world's largest population of 963 million people. It is still the world's largest, at 1.32 billion in 2007, but is likely to be overtaken by India in the coming decades. The main reason is the one-child policy, in place for a generation, which has reduced the growth rate of the population to 0.5 percent a year now, from 1.2 percent in 1978.

EMPLOYMENT: In 1978, 150,000 Chinese employed themselves, typically as small vendors or repairmen. There were no Chinese working for private enterprises. By 2007, the number of Chinese who either worked in private enterprises or employed themselves had risen to 127.5 million.

ENVIRONMENT: One of the victims of China's economic success. Many of the world's most polluted cities are in China. More than 70 percent of China's waterways and 90 percent of its underground water are polluted.

INCOMES: Chinese both in the cities and, to a lesser extent, rural areas, have been beneficiaries of reform. In 1978, the average annual disposable income of urban households was 343.4 yuan, while in 2007, it was 13,786 yuan, a 40-fold increase. For rural households, the increase was 31-fold to 4,140 yuan from 133.6 yuan. However the wealth divide in China is one of world's biggest.

HOUSING: The Chinese used to be squeezed into tiny apartments, and many still are, but a growing number of middle-class families live more comfortably due to one of history's great housing booms.

In 1978, city dwellers had 6.7 square metres to themselves on average, and in 2006, the most recent year for which figures are available, it had risen to 27.1 square metres.

LIFE EXPECTANCY: In 1981, the average Chinese woman could expect to live until she was 69.3 years old, while in 2000 her life expectancy was 73.3.

For men, the numbers were 66.3 in 1981 and 69.6 in 2000. The increase is not dramatic and reflects that basic healthcare was fairly widespread in pre-reform China. -- AFP