China in a Decade: Rapid Growth of Resident's Income with Improved Quality of Life

IV. Higher quality of life with improved living environment

Since the 18th Party Congress, driven by rising resident’s income and spending, household consumer goods have constantly upgraded. At the same time, because of better infrastructures across the country, basic public services and facilities have covered a much larger population, and the living environment has been greatly improved for all residents.

1. Continuous upgrading of durable consumer goods

In 2021, every 100 urban and rural households owned 50.1 and 30.2 cars, respectively, 132.7% and 358.3% higher than in 2012.

Every 100 urban and rural families owned 161.7 and 89.0 air conditioners, 27.5% and 250.8% higher than in 2012, respectively.

The number of cell phones owned by every 100 households in the urban and rural areas reached 253.6 and 266.6, respectively, up 19.3% and 34.8% over 2012.

2. Significant improvement in living conditions and quality

In 2021, the proportion of residents living in concrete or brick-concrete houses reached 96.2% and 77.6% for urban and rural areas respectively, 4.4 and 21.9 percentage points higher than in 2013.

The proportion of urban and rural residents with safe drinking water reached 99.5% and 97.0%, up 1.5 and 22.3 percentage points respectively from 2013.

In 2021, the proportion of urban and rural residents using sanitary toilets reached 97.6% and 82.6%, 8.3 and 47.0 percentage points higher than in 2013, respectively.

3. Continuous improvement of living environment and quality of life

The coverage of water, electricity, road, and telecommunications service has continued its expansion. As of 2021, all residential communities with electricity had been covered by the aforementioned basic services.

In 2021, 96.6% of urban residential communities were drinking water after centralized purification, and 80.4% of villages had centralized drinking water purification treatment, 5.3 and 34.8 percentage points higher than in 2013, respectively.

In 2021, 99.1% of residential communities in urban areas had centralized disposal of garbage, up 3.3% than in 2013; 95.2% of villages practiced centralized disposal of garbage, 46.5 percentage points higher than in 2013.

4. Better medical and education services

In 2021, 87.5% urban residential communities and 94.8% of villages were equipped with a healthcare station, up 7.8 and 13.2 percentage points over 2013, respectively.

In 2021, 99.0% urban families had kindergartens or preschools right in their community, 2.3 percentage points higher than in 2013; 90.1% of rural households could send their kids to kindergartens or preschools right in the village, 14.4 percentage points higher than in 2013.

In 2021, 99.2% of urban families were located in communities where their kids can conveniently attend elementary school, 2.4 percentage points higher than in 2013; 91.3% of households in rural areas were living in villages where kids can conveniently attend elementary school, 10.5 percentage points higher than in 2013.