"The growth was unprecedented," said Cai Fang, economist and deputy head of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences. "It enabled China to catch up miraculously in 40 years."

Martin Raiser, World Bank country director for China, said: "China's growth is indeed remarkable both for the speed and duration of its high-growth phase. No other country has grown that fast for so long."

Now the country is the world's second-largest economy, the largest exporter of goods, and the second-largest global investor in terms of outbound direct investment value.

It is also the largest contributor to global growth, accounting for about 30 percent of the annual expansion of the world economy.

On the poverty alleviation front, China has reduced the number of poor people by 740 million in the past four decades.

The significance of China's economic success lies not only in its contribution to global growth or the cause of poverty reduction, but also because it provides a model for other countries to learn from to improve their governance.

"Maybe the best lesson that countries can learn from China is that there are no one-size-fits-all development models," Raiser said. "Each country should carefully study available experience and adapt policies to fit its own needs."

He said other countries may not have the same conditions for economic growth as China, such as high savings rates and a solid stock of human resources, and should therefore not blindly copy China's model.