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SCMP Reporter

China, the fastest growing economy in the world for more than two decades, will not join the ranks of  fully developed countries until  the year  2080, an official research report says.

According to the Chinese Academy of Sciences report, the country will   reach the  initial stage of a developed economy by 2020 but  it will be  another 30 years before it evolves into a moderately developed economy.

By 2100, China will be able to break into  the top 10 of the world's most developed economies, according to the report, 'The 2005 Report on China's Modernisation', released on Friday.

Per capita  gross domestic product,   the percentage of the population living in rural areas  and the ratio of  agricultural output  to total  GDP are three economic indexes the research report referred to in its  analysis.

By its  calculation, mainland China has just  reached the  stage of economic development achieved by the US  more than 100 years ago, it said.

Official mainland  statistics show that, while   per capita GDP  reached US$1,000 last year, it still  ranked lower than  100th  in the world.

'We must face the reality of China's economy,' said  He Chuanqi , director of the academy's  research project.

'Several bright spots in the urban development cannot be translated into an overall improvement in the national living standards.'

Based on the comprehensive economic indicator compounded by the three indexes, the mainland's economy ranked 69th of the 108 economies the report tracked.

The academy's  report pointed out that despite rapid economic growth in the past two decades,  the mainland's economy still suffered from severe bottlenecks and structural imbalances.

It warned that the quality and sustainability of growth should be given more emphasis than the rate of growth.

In a nationwide evaluation, the report ranks Shanghai as the mainland's most economically developed city, with Beijing  second and the nearby port city Tianjin  third. Zhejiang  , Jiangsu  and Guangdong province completed  the top six in the ranking. The mainland currently ranks as the world's seventh biggest economy in terms of its GDP.



Experts see China fully developed by 2080