--- canonical_url: "https://csls.ca/research/chinas-productivity-performance-and-its-impact-on-poverty-in-the-transition-period/" title: "China’s Productivity Performance and Its Impact on Poverty in the Transition Period" author: name: "CSLS" url: "https://csls.ca/author/cslc/" date_published: "2026-07-02T14:07:43+00:00" date_modified: "2026-07-07T08:30:20+00:00" post_type: "research" summary: "" post_tag: - "agricultural sector" - "China" - "economic reform" - "ILO" - "industrial sector" - "inequality" - "poverty" - "productivity" - "rural-urban" - "transition economy" country_focus: - "Canada" - "China" province_region: - "National" research_theme: - "Economic Well-Being" - "Productivity and Economic Measurement" featured_image: "https://csls.ca/wp-content/uploads/2026/07/old-reports_hero_banner_bg.webp" status: "publish" --- # China’s Productivity Performance and Its Impact on Poverty in the Transition Period Canonical URL: https://csls.ca/research/chinas-productivity-performance-and-its-impact-on-poverty-in-the-transition-period/ # China’s Productivity Performance and Its Impact on Poverty in the Transition Period [Download full PDF report](https://csls.ca/pdf/csls2003-07.pdf) Cite this report × Cite this report as: Centre for the Study of Living Standards. 2003. “China’s Productivity Performance and Its Impact on Poverty in the Transition Period.” CSLS Research Report 2003-07. Ottawa. https://csls.ca/research/chinas-productivity-performance-and-its-impact-on-poverty-in-the-transition-period/ ## Author: - Centre for the Study of Living Standards (CSLS) Centre for the Study of Living Standards (CSLS) ## Report 2003-07 September 2003 81 pages ## Related research [Living Standards Domain of the Canadian Index of Wellbeing Andrew Sharpe, Christopher Ross November 2011 | Report 2011-17 | 124 pages](https://csls.ca/research/living-standards-domain-of-the-canadian-index-of-wellbeing-2011-17/) [Productivity Trends in Natural Resources Industries in Canada Centre for the Study of Living Standards (CSLS) February 2003 | Report 2003-01a | 69 pages](https://csls.ca/research/productivity-trends-in-natural-resources-industries-in-canada/) [Productivity in the Forest Products Sector: A Review of the Literature Centre for the Study of Living Standards (CSLS) February 2003 | Report 2003-02 | 28 pages](https://csls.ca/research/productivity-in-the-forest-products-sector-a-review-of-the-literature/) [An Analysis of Productivity Trends in the Forest Products Sector in Canada Centre for the Study of Living Standards (CSLS) February 2003 | Report 2003-01b | 64 pages](https://csls.ca/research/an-analysis-of-productivity-trends-in-the-forest-products-sector-in-canada/) [Why Are Americans More Productive Than Canadians? Andrew Sharpe June 2003 | Report 2003-03 | 83 pages](https://csls.ca/research/why-are-americans-more-productive-than-canadians/) [Human Well-being and Economic Well-being: What Values Are Implicit in Current Indices? Lars Osberg, Andrew Sharpe August 2003 | Report 2003-04 | 60 pages](https://csls.ca/research/human-well-being-and-economic-well-being-what-values-are-implicit-in-current-indices/) [Productivity Growth and Poverty Reduction in Developing Countries Centre for the Study of Living Standards (CSLS) September 2003 | Report 2003-06 | 70 pages](https://csls.ca/research/productivity-growth-and-poverty-reduction-in-developing-countries/) [Exploring the Linkages between Productivity and Social Development in Market Economies Andrew Sharpe February 2004 | Report 2004-02 | 70 pages](https://csls.ca/research/exploring-the-linkages-between-productivity-and-social-development-in-market-economies/) [Report on Productivity Trends in Selected Natural Resource Industries in Canada Centre for the Study of Living Standards (CSLS) October 2004 | Report 2004-06 | 67 pages](https://csls.ca/research/report-on-productivity-trends-in-selected-natural-resource-industries-in-canada/) [Productivity Trends in the Coal Mining Industry in Canada Jeremy Smith October 2004 | Report 2004-07 | 43 pages](https://csls.ca/research/productivity-trends-in-the-coal-mining-industry-in-canada/) ## Abstract ## Résumé EN FR Copy link Email LinkedIn The objective of this report is to document China’s productivity performance since 1978 and determine its impact on poverty. The report finds that China has made substantial progress in economic development since economic reform started in 1978. Strong economic growth has been fuelled by rapid productivity growth, and has been accompanied by impressive declines in the incidence of poverty. Productivity performance has not been uniform across the agricultural and industrial sectors, but both have contributed to aggregate growth and poverty reduction. Unfortunately economic reform has also brought increasing income inequality, mostly between rural and urban areas but also within both rural and urban areas and across regions as well. Labour productivity is found to have had a strong negative effect on poverty in China, with productivity increases in the industrial sector more important for poverty reduction than those in the agricultural sector. The econometric results do not show that trends in inequality have a significant effect on poverty. However, the process of economic growth, besides bringing the benefits of productivity increases, also brings structural adjustments that exacerbate income inequality through displacing workers. The government of China has an important role to play in further developing a social security system that will ensure the gains from productivity are more equally shared, thus maintaining a healthy and equitable society in which further productivity gains can be realized. L’objectif de ce rapport est de documenter la performance de la Chine en matière de productivité depuis 1978 et d’en déterminer l’incidence sur la pauvreté. Le rapport constate que la Chine a réalisé des progrès considérables en matière de développement économique depuis le début des réformes économiques en 1978. Une croissance économique vigoureuse, alimentée par une croissance rapide de la productivité, s’est accompagnée de baisses impressionnantes de l’incidence de la pauvreté. La performance de la productivité n’a pas été uniforme entre les secteurs agricole et industriel, mais les deux ont contribué à la croissance globale et à la réduction de la pauvreté. Malheureusement, la réforme économique a également entraîné une inégalité croissante des revenus, principalement entre les régions rurales et urbaines, mais aussi au sein de chacune de ces régions et entre les régions. On constate que la productivité du travail a eu une forte incidence négative sur la pauvreté en Chine, les hausses de productivité dans le secteur industriel étant plus importantes pour la réduction de la pauvreté que celles du secteur agricole. Les résultats économétriques ne démontrent pas que les tendances de l’inégalité ont une incidence significative sur la pauvreté. Cependant, le processus de croissance économique, en plus d’apporter les avantages des hausses de productivité, entraîne également des ajustements structurels qui exacerbent l’inégalité des revenus en déplaçant des travailleurs. Le gouvernement chinois a un rôle important à jouer dans le développement d’un système de sécurité sociale qui permettra de s’assurer que les gains de productivité profitent à l’ensemble de la population. [Download full PDF report](https://csls.ca/pdf/csls2003-07.pdf)