If taken at face value, the survey data on prices, together with China’s growth rates, would suggest that China was almost as poor in 1981 as the world’s poorest country today, with average personal consumption below the current level of Liberia – another country to which China provides significant aid. While the Bank’s latest PPP-conversion rate puts the number of poor Chinese at 173 million, the previous rate would suggest that only 69 million Chinese were living below the poverty line.
若用面值计算，价格调查数据与中国增长率相结合显示，1981年的中国与如今世界最贫国家一样穷，人均消费水平比利比里亚的当前水平还要低，而利比里亚也是中国提供大量援助的国家。世行最新PPP转换率意味着中国贫困人口数量为1.73亿，而先前的转换率意味着中国仅有6900万人生活在贫困线之下。