The comparison of China and Vietnam’s Human development indexes

Anmol Kaur Khushi Singhal

Foundation year, Anant National University Foundation year, Anant National University

anmol.kaur@anu.edu.in khushi.singhal@anu.edu.in

Subhalaxmi Mohapatra

May 4, 2020
 The comparison of China and Vietnam’s Human development indexes

Abstract
This study focuses on the various measures that China and Vietnam have taken over the years to
improve the three basic dimensions of the human development index- health, education and the
standard of living. To improve its life expectancy rates, China introduced public health care
services whereas Vietnam chose a more sustainable approach and received help from NGO’s.
The mean schooling years were improved by making education compulsory and improving the
quality of education being provided and both the countries used the same approach. The third
dimension is standard of living which is measured by Gross National Income (GNI) per capita.
Both the countries heavily funded in their factors of production and liberalised trade customs for
the easy flow for trade. It was a huge risk for each of them but it definitely paid off very well. A
few tables and charts are also attached for the better understanding of the study.

Keywords: China, Vietnam, Human Development Index.

 The comparison of China and Vietnam’s Human development indexes

An effective way contrasting between two countries could be comparing them based on

their human development index (HDI). What is HDI? According to an UNDP report, HDI is the

summary measure for assessing long-term progress in 3 basic dimensions of human

development: a long and healthy life, access to knowledge and a decent standard of living. A

long and healthy life is measured by life expectancy, knowledge level is measured by mean

years of schooling among the adult population and the standard of living is measured by Gross

National Income (GNI) per capita. China and Vietnam are both communist countries but have

made a few changes in their political systems to receive certain economic results. China

introduced its reforms of 1978 and Vietnam first initiated its modern era of economic reforms

just 8 years later in 1986. The reforms initiated by them both are strikingly similar, from the

factors supporting them and the concurrent socio-economic conditions to the reform approaches

and their outcomes. At the same time however, the performance gap between the two has been

persistently wide. Currently, China’s HDI value is 0.758 and Vietnam stands at 0.693. In this

report we’re going to compare and contrast between china and Vietnam based on the 3 major

dimensions of human development that have been aforementioned. The various measures and
steps that these countries have taken individually to improve these three parameters will also be

discussed in detail.

First let’s talk about how China's HDI value has increased over the years. China’s HDI

value for 2018 was 0.758— which put the country in the high human development category—

ranking it at 85 out of 189 countries and territories. Between 1990 and 2018, China’s HDI value

increased from 0.501 to 0.758, an increase of 51.1 percent. Between 1990 and 2018, China’s life

expectancy at birth increased by 7.6 years, mean years of schooling increased by 3.1 years and

expected years of schooling increased by 5.1 years. China’s GNI per capita increased by about

954.0 percent between 1990 and 2018.

Moving on to Vietnam, first let's talk numbers. Vietnam's HDI value for 2018 was 0.693

which put the country in the medium human development category, positioning it at 118 in the

world. Between 1990 and 2018, Vietnam's HDI value increased from 0.475 to 0.693, an increase

of 45.9 percent. Now let's take a look at the progress in the indicators. Its life expectancy rate

increased by 4.8 years, mean years of schooling witnessed a spike of 4.9 years and the GNI per

capita increased by a total 354.5 percent between 1990 and 2018.

Health

Considering the size of China's population, it has made impressive gains in its life

expectancy rate over the years. It increased its average life expectancy at birth from 40 years to
over 70 years in just half a century (during the second half of the twentieth century), which took

several other advanced countries nearly a century to achieve. Improvements in the provision of

public health services, particularly in infant and maternal health have been the greatest factors to

raise the life expectancy. According to recent World Health Organisation reports, China has

nearly eliminated diseases like malaria and measles. These few improvements in the infant and

adult mortality rates have led to a significant increase in the overall life expectancy.

While the current life expectancy rates in Vietnam are quite impressive, it still has

potential to improve them by improving its current health care system. There is an increase in the

life expectancy rate in Vietnam as it is transitioning from an impoverished nation to a lower

middle-income nation. Many non profit organisations like the Project Vietnam Foundation and

the Ho Chi Minh Environment Sanitation Project have also made a huge impact on the life

expectancy rates. The primary focus of the Project Vietnam Foundation is to provide medical

training to impoverished rural areas. The main aim of the Ho Chi Minh Project was to clear out

the canal and establish a proper sewage system because they witnessed floods and overflowing

of water during monsoon season and all the drainage water went into the houses. This was one of

the reasons why people started falling sick quite often and the mortality rates had started

increasing. But, after the implementation of this project, the rates were reversed quickly. These

projects have helped in the betterment of the country's basic hygiene and the overall health of the
citizens by eliminating diseases that spread due to garbage and unclean practices. Refer Table 1

for a visual representation.

Education

The second dimension of HDI is access to knowledge which is measured by the mean

years of schooling of the adults. Chinas current rate is 7.9 and it has come a long way since 1990

when it used to be just 4.8. Chinese leaders have sought to improve the quality of education and

increase access across the country. The most influential policy was the 1986 Law on nine - year

compulsory education. This policy made education compulsory for children aged 6-15 which

definitely showed impressive results. Students did not hesitate either because the school fee was

also very affordable. Apart from this policy, measures were taken to ensure that the quality of

education that is being provided is not compromised. This was done by enhancing teacher

training programs.

Vietnam's mean years of schooling increased by 4.3 years during 1980 - 2018. To

achieve these results, it decided to expand access to education and vocational training. One of
Vietnam's strategies to achieve further economic growth was to modernize the education system.

This helped in spiking up the rates quickly. The main agenda behind modernising the system was

to attract more people by making it look interesting and actually taking proficient steps to

improve the quality of education. Vietnam introduced many teacher training programs to ensure

that the quality of education is unmatchable. They even changed their textbooks and the material

used in schools. Another step they took was they the synced their higher education system with

the international system which once again ensured best education. If you see from a broader

perspective, Vietnam is comparatively a poor country and this is one of the reasons you would

observe that everyone in the family earns; the adults and the children from ages 15 onwards too.

This was one reason as to why the drop rates in schools were increasing. So, to dodge this issue

they came up with another policy that allowed a flexible timeline to pay the education fee. All

these perks are being provided to them at affordable rates which have tremendously attracted

more and more students which automatically increased the mean years of schooling in Vietnam.

A visual representation is provided (Table 2) at the end of the report.

Standard of living

The third dimension of HDI is a standard of living which is measured by the Gross

National Income (GNI) per capita. GNI generally refers to an estimate of the total market value

of goods and services produced by a country's residents, regardless of where they are located.
China's current GNI is 25.3 lakh crore. Previous researches on economic development have

suggested a significant role for capital investments in the economic growth. Better technology,

new machinery , more investment in infrastructure have also helped to raise output. The

government did not compromise while spending on the factors of production-land, labour and

capital because the output they were receiving was surprisingly good. This was one risk they

were ready to take. Chinese productivity increased at an annual rate of 3.9 percent during the

80's, and by the early 90's , the growth exceeded 50 percent.

The current GNI per capita of Vietnam is 66,178.1 crore. Vietnam's economic rise can be

explained by three main factors. First, it embraced trade liberalisation with gusto. Second, it has

complimented external liberalisation with domestic reforms through deregulation and lowering

cost of doing business. And finally, invested heavily in human and physical capital. They also

invested heavily on infrastructure to ensure cheap mass access to the internet. All those

investments have definitely paid off as Vietnam is now the hub for foreign investments and

manufacturing in Southeast Asia. All these investments and policies have helped in the rise of

Vietnam's GNI per capita. Table 3 shows a visual representation of these statistics.

By all statistics and with proven results we can say that the Human Development Index

of both the countries measuring the three main dimensions have increased over the years. The

improvements made by China and Vietnam in their respected HDI values have helped them gain
a better position in the economic world. In order to achieve these results, China took several

measures and also faced certain challenges down the road since it has a high population. It made

immense improvements in its public health services to attain better life expectancy rates. The

leaders of china also came up with policies such as the nine year education policy which

increased the educational access across the country. They introduced better technology, new

machinery and invested more in infrastructure to raise the output. Moving on to Vietnam, it

increased its life expectancy rates over the years by introducing projects which aim to provide

medical training to impoverished rural areas and clear out canals to replace them with a well

structured sewage system. Its strategy to achieve economic growth through modernizing the

education system helped them improve the quality of education which eventually increased the

mean years of schooling. The three main factors that were responsible for the overall GNI per

capita increase were the liberalization of trade, external liberalization with domestic reforms and

a heavy investment in human and physical capital. Vietnam used a sustainable approach to reach

its goal. In spite of having such similar approaches to improve each parameter, this study shows

us how both the countries have such a huge difference in their positions in the world

economically.
Tables:

Table 1 : Life expectancy at birth of China and Vietnam

from 2008 – 2018
Table 2: Mean years of schooling of China and Vietnam from
2008 - 2018

Visual representation of Table 1

 Visual representation of Table 2

Table 3: GNI per capita of China and Vietnam from 2008 - 2018
References :

 “ Developing or developed? Assessing Chinese life expectancy| China Power

Project “ available at: https://chinapower.csis.org/life-expectancy/ (accessed on
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 “China’s GNI per capita surpassing average for middle-income countries in 2018:
NBS” available at: http://www.globaltimes.cn/content/1156457.shtml ( accessed
on 22nd April, 2020 )
 “Top 10 facts about life expectancy in
Visual representation of Table 3
Vietnam | The Borgen Project “
available at :
https://borgenproject.org/top-10-facts-about-life-expectancy-in-vietnam/
( accessed on 24th April, 2020 )
 “How does education in China compare with other countries? | China Power
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on compositional data ” available at:
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