China in 1949

China in 1949 

• 80% of people still lived in poverty
• Vast majority of people were illiterate 
• women still couldnt own property
• Life expectancy was only 36 years old
• Human waste used as fertilizer, spread disease
• Hyperinflation was rife in 1949, 100 yuan needed to buy an egg
• Factory output was 44% below what it was in 1939
• only 5% of the population worked in industr
• All agriculture was owned by corrupt landlords…