With 2007 almost at a close reform can certainly be considered
as this year’s signature. It was also the catchword last year. The
17th CPC National Congress report pointed that
reform has become the word of choice for our new times.
This year witnessed many steps moving up the economic ladder
that have led the Chinese people toward a well-off society. A
series of unofficial polls conducted by Xiaokang Magazine
have faithfully reflected the changes taking place in people’s
livelihoods.
This year, the economy exhibited sound momentum. The first nine
months of 2007 yielded a GDP that soared up to 16,604.3 billion
yuan, 11.5 percent higher than the same period last year.
China, as the fourth largest economy in the world, has recorded
continuous annual growth for the last 12 years, with a two-digit
growth rate for five years on end. Such speed is nothing new; the
world now predicts that China will overtake Germany as the third
largest economy in 2008.
This year, China’s urban and rural residents have enjoyed
significant gains in their incomes. During the first three
quarters, urban incomes climbed to 10,346 yuan, up 13.2 percent.
Their rural counterparts earned cash flow income worth 3,321 yuan
per head, an increase of 14.8 percent.
This year, more people are employed. During the first three
quarters of this year, urban people received 9.2 million
placements, 2 percent more than expected.
This year, social security system gathered more people under its
umbrella. During the first three quarters, 308.9 billion yuan was
injected into social security and employment realms, an increase of
29.5 percent. By the end of September, urban residents with minimum
living subsidies had reached 22.377 million, an increase of 105
thousand people, while rural residents with minimum living
subsidies reached 27.813 million.
This year, social insurance covered more people and more areas.
A reform program guaranteeing rural compulsory education fund was
launched across the nation together with a governmental waiver in
tuition. Also from this year, the national rural cooperative
medical system came into play.
But all these heartening facts didn’t agree with the polls. When
respondents were asked about their standard of living in 2007, 48.2
percent said that it had increased while others thought
otherwise.
When it came to personal satisfaction regarding medical care,
education and housing, a majority people reported
dissatisfaction.
“Do you think there is a need to give more weight to the
socially vulnerable groups?” 72.6 percent of the respondents
answered in the affirmative.
Why did people’s appraisal of their standard of living take a
dive when the economy was on an upward roll?
The survey was conducted between last October and November while
the CPI was soaring and this was the main reason for the dip in
people’s satisfaction. The gulf indicated that the Chinese reform
had been ushered into a new phase.
In another poll, satisfaction also dove to a lower level. People
apparently pitched their expectations too high as the country
experienced sizzling economic growth.
The current disparity in incomes seems quite alarming, with a
relatively scanty portion of the national income allocated to a
single resident’s income.
It is estimated that the has risen from 0.417 to 0.475 between
the years 2000 to 2006. Moreover, the income disparity has been
further enlarged as urban residents earn more than 3 times that of
rural ones.
The BCG, a leading consulting company, released their latest
global wealth report and reported that the Chinese mainland has 310
thousand multimillionaires. These nouveau riche, a small minority,
are amassing 41.4 percent of the national wealth.
However, as people’s standards of living have become the motif
of the year, the government has gone to great lengths to offset any
costs stemming from reform, and to accommodate ordinary people’s
needs.
To achieve this entails some big steps, including adjustment in
the fiscal budget and an increase in spending to improve the
average standard of living. The government should realize that more
public spending is needed to represent a more widely shared
division of wealth arising from the economic boom.
(China.org.cn by He Shan, December 21, 2007)