A college student who experienced malnutrition because she was too poor to afford adequate food has died in southwestern China, sparking concerns about poverty in the world's second largest economy. While China has "moved from being moderately unequal in 1990 to being one of the world's most unequal countries." according to the International Monetary Fund, SMU Associate Professor of Political Science John A Donaldson told CNN in April that while local leaders appeared to have taken the task seriously, there is still a long way to truly eradicate rural poverty in the long run.