China is the world's second largest economy by nominal GDP and purchasing power parity after the United States.

It is the world's fastest-growing major economy, with growth rates averaging 10% over the past 30 years. China is also the largest exporter and second largest importer of goods in the world.

Take a look at glimpses of China's transformation over the years...

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Teenagers dressed in cosplay costumes wait to perform at the 2010 China (Hefei) Digital Entertainment Carnival in Hefei, Anhui province.

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Buses and electrical trolley buses mingle with bicycles and pedestrians at a crossroad near Chongwenmen in Beijing in 1984.

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Vehicles on Three Ring Road (left) and Jianwai Street (right) during the evening rush hour in central Beijing.

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A child sitting on a roadside snooker pool plays with her mother in Beijing in 1983.

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Children play in water fountains next to the National Stadium, also known as the Bird's Nest, during the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games.

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People offer sewing services at an open market in Quanzhou, Fujian province in 1982.

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An employee looks up while working along a production line at Suzhou Etron Electronics Co's factory in Suzhou, Jiangsu province.

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Drivers talk on a steam locomotive at the Yongdingmen railway station in Beijing in 1981.

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A female construction worker watches a train pass on the new high-speed railway line between Shanghai and Hangzhou on the outskirts of Shanghai.

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People perform Arhat exercise, a form of traditional Chinese fitness, at a park in Beijing in 1988.

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Locals dance during a morning exercise session at the Temple of Heaven park in Beijing.

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Black-and-white TV sets are displayed at a department store in Xidan, one of the three traditional shopping streets, in Beijing in 1981.

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Customers at an internet cafe in Hefei, Anhui province.

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Residents hold tape recorders to record folk songs during a singing contest in Guilin, Guangxi Zhuang autonomous region in 1988.

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A man sings in a local karaoke club during a night out in Shanghai.

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Villagers attend a rally in Longxian County, Shaanxi province in 1990.

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Attendants serve tea to delegates during the opening session of China's parliament, the National People's Congress, at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing.

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A worker repairs a pillar in front of a statue of the late Chinese leader Mao Zedong in Yingkou, Liaoning province in 1994.

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A spectator waves a Chinese flag in front of a statue of Chairman Mao Zedong in Kashgar, Xinjiang province.

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Chinese prisoners return to their compounds at Jiangbei Prison in the central province of Hubei after working in the fields and collecting cotton branches for firewood in 1998.

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A Chinese national flag flies above male inmates as they watch a performance to mark the International Day against Drug Abuse and Illicit Trafficking at Kunming Municipal Compulsory Rehabilitation Centre in Kunming, Yunnan province.

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People push their bicycles across a railway track during rush hour in Shanghai in 1991.

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Passengers wait for buses at a bus stop during rush hour in Beijing.

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A boy and his father display their soccer skills on a roadside in Beijing in 1981.

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Shaolin students play soccer at Tagou Wushu School in Zhengzhou, Henan province.

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Chinese soldiers rescue residents from a flooded market in Chengdu, in southwest Sichuan Province, in 1998.

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Rescuers carry two children on a flooded street in Fuzhou, Jiangxi province.

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Locals walk past a barbershop in the Sanlitun area of Beijing in 1982.

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Shop owner Gong Chui Zhen fixes trousers at the entrance to her shop in an old quarter of Shanghai.