China is heavily statpadding when it comes to boosting GDP, at any cost.
GDP is statistics, doesn't show the real picture. China is a pretty brutal factory that eats people alive to survive but it is working very well. When I said that Soviet Union was way better than modern Russia, I said it because USSR was producing some goods and was advancing on many fronts, at cost of course (just like China). Modern Russia is still sacrificing its own people but it isn't going anywhere. Nothing of value came out of Russia in past 20-30 years. They just exploit natural gas and that's basically it. USSR had military advancements, space program and tried to create a differnt social system (total failure).
Why does majority of people on this forum look at social aspect of one state when it comes to evaluation? It is misleading and doesn't work well for everybody. It's easy for countries with small population like Scandinavian countries, Belgium, Netherlands and co. and others to have happy and socially secure citizens. Much harder for massive countries like USA, China, India. If we take that into account, countries with medium population like UK, Germany and France are way above those "heavens on Earth" I've previously mentioned.
To answer Kuujs to previous question: Both Ukraine and modern Russia are third world countries. Especially Ukraine, which is country currrently engulfed by civil war. It is perfectly normal to walk 500 meters from ones house and see all kind of shit in there, especially in eastern part of the country.