From the economic reforms of 1978 to the present day, that is in just over 40 years, China has lifted from extreme poverty over 850 million people, 770 of whom live in rural areas. This is a huge figure, certified by the World Bank data and unparalleled in the history of humanity. In concrete terms, the goal reached by Beijing represents a reduction of more than 70% of global poverty. Just to have a benchmark, it is as if the Chinese government had succeeded in relieving from a situation of extreme poverty the sum of the inhabitants of the European Union (446 million) and the United States (329 million) put together.