During the past few decades, China has been largely regarded by the West as a 'developing country', ie one that, yes, is poor.
However China's current astounding economic growth has led it into a world superpower status. your question needs to specify if you are asking about the people or the country. it is an extremely wealthy country in terms of GDP (7.8 trillion and counting) however because China's land area is so vast and there are so many people, the wealth is not spread evenly and in some areas infrastructure and health care may be rudimentary.however, this is the case in many countries, even in other countries which are considered to be 'more economically developed'. The massive 2008 Beijing Olympics changed the world's view of China; it can be considered an enormous success.China's history is also extremely rich; it is one of the oldest civilizations in the world. its culture is diverse and fascinating.
in terms of material wealth, well, that is currently quite subjective. it is true there are many billi- and milli- onaires in China; luxury stores all across the world have entered its walls. to pick a trivial example, china is now one of the 8 countries on the 'pick your country' list on the Louis Vuitton website. Chinese women (some of my friends!) love spending on their monogrammed/quilted designer handbags, and Beijing is chock full of luxury condominiums.
this can be quite suprising as China is officially ofcourse, a 'communist' country. but like i have said, its face is changing. it is learning how to accumulate wealth and power, and one day may overshadow the other superpowers in this world.
Gabrielle (London)
PS, i hate it when people don't distinguish between Hong Kong and China. hong kong is china. some organizations confuse people by writing there offices as being in 'New York, London, Paris, milan, hong kong, china...' but people, hong kong is a city in china. don't confuse it with Taiwan, over which there is much controversy! :)
i suggest these websites for further insight:
http://news.bbc.co.UK/1/hi/world/Asia-pacific/8035906.stm
http://www.upiasia.com/Society_Culture/2009/04/13/how_did_chinas_millionaires_get_so_rich/2430/
China is the richest country. But, the richest county has to be Cobb County.
china
China Trust Me...
china is richest country in the world
No, its one of the most built up and richest counries in the world!
Uzbekistan is the richest country in Asia, also China. Scientists supposed that the richest in economy also is Uzbekistan. ALso nor of Asia has subways. The most beautiful subway in Asia has only Uzbekistan.
America and it migth be china because of the population
No, currently the richest country is Russia, with a 10% GDP to debt ratio, with Saudi Arabia in 2nd and China in 3rd.
there have been plenty of debate over this subject, though currently china is definently the richest country in the world. and both england and america owe china trillions over the credit crunch.
china because people in china are gaining more business
China Although America is the richest if you take into account that they will never pay off their debts because they are to big to need to.
hongkong is the richest city in china. (2008)