Teaching Comparative

Chinese view on building a harmonious society

It's interesting to see Xinhua's account of income inequalities in China (since it's the official government news agency) -- at least as presented to an outside audience. Here are two examples that can be compared to Western media coverage of the same issues. The articles excerpted here were published on 12 December 2006.

A richer China grapples with widening wealth gap

"Growing at a double-digit speed to become the world's fourth largest economy, the country has been grappling with the disparity between the haves and have-nots, which has widened dramatically over the past 20 years...


(See "Comparative Incomes and Politics" for a general discussion of this topic.)

"Since China launched its economic reforms and opening up in late 1970s, the incomes in cities have risen faster than in the countryside, which boasted a large population living on farming...

"From 1985 to the end of last year, more than 100 million Chinese emerged from poverty, leaving 23.65 million still below the poverty line, which is set at an annual per capita income of 85 U.S. dollars by the government...

"Meanwhile, the findings indicate the average real income of the poorest 10 percent of households declined by 2.4 percent from 2001to 2003...

"'In recent years, the cost of public services like education, medical care and social security have risen too fast for medium and low-income families to afford. That's one of the major causes for the widening wealth gap,' said Chi Fulin, vice director of the China Society of Economic Reform.

"'The government has expended most energy and money on developing the economy instead of social undertakings and public services,' said Ding Yuanzhu, researcher with the Academy of Macroeconomic Research of the State Development and Reform Commission (SDRC).

"The government should transform its function from merely pursuing economic growth to providing basic public services, and give full play to the market in economic development, said Chi.

"Government intervention in market operations are a major cause of the irregular procurement of resources, corruption and unjust distribution of income, said Chi...

"'What really matters is not the wealth gap, but a fair system and equal opportunities,' said Li Qiang, government adviser and dean of the School of Humanities and Social Sciences at Tsinghua University..."

---

On the same day, in a possibly-related story, Xinhua reported that Students peg job hopes on social contacts

"More than half of China's university students believe good social contacts can help them find a good job, according to a survey released on Monday.

"In a poll of 1,000 students who will graduate next year in Beijing, Shanghai, Wuhan, Shenyang and Xi'an, 51.5 percent said they hoped to find a good job through good social contacts.

"The survey conducted by the China Youth Daily and Zhaopin.com showed 45 percent believed luck was also an important factor...

"Government posts continue to be much sought after..."

posted by Ken Wedding @ 5:50 AM