——人民基本生活水准极大改善。城镇居民家庭和农村居民家庭恩格尔系数分别由1978年的57.5%和67.7%,下降到2015年的29.7%和33.0%。1978年至2015年,中国城镇人均住宅建筑面积由6.7平方米增长到33平方米以上,农村人均住房面积由8.1平方米增长到37平方米以上。以公共租赁住房、经济适用住房等为主要形式的住房保障制度初步形成。2015年,国家住宅投资达到80247.7亿元,其中全国城镇保障性安居工程基本建成住房772万套,新开工783万套;中央投入农村危房改造补助资金365亿元,支持全国432万贫困农户改造危房。2011年至2015年,全国城镇保障性安居工程累计新建住房4013万套,累计棚户区改造2191万户,一大批住房困难群众搬进楼房,实现“宜居”。2011年至2015年,各级财政给予补贴,共对全国67.5万残疾人家庭进行无障碍改造,提高了残疾人生活质量。人民出行条件极大改善。1978年至2015年,公路通车里程由89万公里增长到457.7万公里,民航旅客吞吐量从231.9万人次增长到9.15亿人次。2015年,全国高速公路通车里程12.35万公里,高速铁路营运里程1.9万公里,行政村公路通畅率达94.5%,建制村通客车率达94.28%。
——人民生活水平显著提高。1978年至2015年,全年国内生产总值从3679亿元增长到685506亿元,人均国内生产总值从200多美元增长到8000美元以上。1978年,城镇居民家庭人均可支配收入只有343.4元,农村居民家庭人均纯收入只有133.6元。2015年,全国居民人均可支配收入达到21966元,其中,城镇居民人均可支配收入31195元,农村居民人均可支配收入11422元。截至2015年年底,全国电话用户总数达到153673万户,其中移动电话用户130574万户,普及率为95.5部/百人;固定互联网宽带接入用户21337万户,移动宽带用户78533万户。互联网上网人数6.88亿人,固定宽带家庭普及率达到50.3%。2015年,国内居民出境12786万人次,其中因私出境12172万人次。民用轿车保有量9508万辆,其中私人轿车8793万辆。
The people's basic living standards have greatly improved. In 1978, the Engel coefficient of urban households was 57.5 percent and that of rural households was 67.7 percent; in 2015, the figures dropped to 29.7 percent and 33.0 percent respectively. From 1978 to 2015, urban residents saw an increase in their residential area from 6.7 square meters per capita to more than 33 square meters; the corresponding figures for rural residents were 8.1 square meters to more than 37 square meters. A housing security system with government-supported low-rent housing and economically affordable housing as the main forms is in place. In 2015, the national investment in residential buildings reached RMB8,024.77 billion. Within this program, 7.72 million units of government-subsidized urban housing were completed, and construction on another 7.83 million units already started. The central government provided RMB36.5 billion to subsidize the renovation of sub-standard houses for 4.32 million poor rural households around China. From 2011 to 2015, under the government-subsidized urban housing project, China built a total of 40.13 million new units, renovated 21.91 million households in shantytowns, and moved a large number of people with housing difficulties into apartments, realizing "livable" residences. From 2011 to 2015, public finance at all levels subsidized barrier-free reconstruction for 675,000 families with disabled members, improving their quality of life.
Travel conditions have greatly improved. From 1978 to 2015, highways in service rose from 890,000 km to 4.58 million km, and the civil aviation passenger throughput grew from 2.32 million to 915 million. In 2015, the total mileage of expressways open to traffic in China reached 123,500 km, the operating mileage of high-speed railways reached 19,000 km. 94.5 percent of villages had paved road access, and 94.3 percent of villages had access to bus services.
The people's living standards have significantly improved. From 1978 to 2015, the annual GDP increased from RMB367.9 billion to RMB68,550.6 billion, and per capita GDP grew from more than US$200 to above US$8,000. In 1978, per capita disposable income of urban households was only RMB343.4, and per capita net income of rural households was only RMB133.6. In 2015, per capita disposable income of all residents reached RMB21,966; the figures were RMB31,195 for urban residents and RMB11,422 for rural residents. By the end of 2015, the total number of phone users nationwide reached 1,536.73 million, and 1,305.74 million of them were mobile phone users, with a penetration rate of 95.5 per 100 people. There were 213.37 million households with fixed broadband Internet access, and 785.33 million mobile broadband users. The number of Internet users was 688 million, and the household penetration rate of fixed broadband reached 50.3 percent. In 2015, Chinese residents made 127.86 million outbound trips, including 121.72 million private trips. Civilian car ownership was 95.08 million, of which 87.93 million were private cars.