Teaching Comparative Government and Politics

Tuesday, May 12, 2015

Pointing out the cleavage

When the boss identifies a problem, savvy underlings will begin finding ways to make things better or cover up the problem. For years, the problem of rural poverty and lack of services has been covered up by urban growth, urban prosperity, and rural isolation. Occasional efforts have been made when things got really bad, but those efforts have been temporary.

Well, the boss is talking again. Will improvements or covering up begin?

Chinese peasants should share fruits of development: Xi

President Xi Jinping said China must strive to make breakthroughs on coordinated development between urban and rural areas to enable farmers to participate in the country's development on an equal footing and share the fruits of economic growth…

The most difficult task for China in building a a moderately prosperous society in all respects lies in its vast rural areas, Xi said…

Development of rural areas should be supported by more advanced urban areas. The target is to gradually let rural residents have equal basic rights and interests and the same public services as urban residents, balancing the income of rural and urban residents, optimizing the distribution of essential factors in urban and rural areas and integrating urban and rural industrial development, according to Xi…

Xi urged advancing agricultural modernization, strengthening the position of agriculture, and ensuring food security and income growth.

Infrastructure and public service facilities in rural areas need to be improved, Xi said, and capital of the society should be encouraged to invest in these projects.

Social care for the left-behind rural population -- mostly children, women and the elderly whose fathers, husbands and sons have left for better-paying jobs in cities -- needs to be improved, Xi stressed.

Reform of the household registration system should be accelerated to ensure rural workers have the same job opportunities as urban workers and to let rural migrants settle down in cities, Xi said.

Governments at all levels should fully understand the importance and urgency of improving institutions and mechanisms for promoting the integration of urban and rural development, Xi said. Specific policies and effective measures should be rolled out to make progress on realizing integrated urban and rural development…

[T]he country aims to build "a moderately prosperous society in all respects" by 2020, but the gap between rural and urban populations remains large, especially between the poorest and most remote areas and booming megacities.