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5 - Inequality and Poverty in Rural China
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- By Luo Chuliang, Beijing Normal University, Terry Sicular, University of Western Ontario
- Edited by Shi Li, Beijing Normal University, Hiroshi Sato, Hitotsubashi University, Tokyo, Terry Sicular, University of Western Ontario
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- Book:
- Rising Inequality in China
- Published online:
- 05 July 2013
- Print publication:
- 31 October 2013, pp 197-229
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Summary
Introduction
The rural sector has featured prominently in China's policy agenda since the change in leadership in the early 2000s. For each of the seven consecutive years from 2004 through 2010, the State Council's No. 1 Central Document addressed rural policies. As the first policy communiqué of the year, these documents are indicative of the high priority placed on the rural sector (Xinhua News Agency 2008, 2010), and they have introduced an array of policy initiatives, such as the “New Socialist Countryside” program.
Key rural policies during this period have included the elimination of agricultural taxes and fees, government subsidies for agricultural production, public investments in rural infrastructure, extension of the minimum living standard guarantee (dibao) program to rural areas, the rural cooperative medical system, and the expansion of universal, free nine-year public education (Chen 2009, 2010; Lin and Wong 2012). In addition, the government has implemented measures to ease restrictions on rural-urban mobility and to improve work and living conditions for migrants (Cai, Du, and Wang 2009).
Appendix I - The 2007 Household Surveys
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- By Luo Chuliang, Beijing Normal University, Li Shi, Beijing Normal University, Terry Sicular, University of Western Ontario, Deng Quheng, Université de Lyon-CNRS-GATE Lyon Saint-Etienne, Yue Ximing, Renmin University of China
- Edited by Shi Li, Beijing Normal University, Hiroshi Sato, Hitotsubashi University, Tokyo, Terry Sicular, University of Western Ontario
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- Book:
- Rising Inequality in China
- Published online:
- 05 July 2013
- Print publication:
- 31 October 2013, pp 445-464
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Summary
To track the dynamics of income distribution in China, the Chinese Household Income Project (CHIP) has conducted four waves of household surveys, in 1988, 1995, 2002, and lastly 2007. These surveys were carried out as part of a collaborative research project on incomes and inequality in China organized by Chinese and international researchers, with assistance from the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS). The CHIP project participants and other researchers have analyzed the data from the first three waves and published a wide range of articles, reports, and books. Descriptions of the CHIP surveys and key findings can be found in Griffin and Zhao (1993); Riskin, Zhao, and Li (2001); and Gustafsson, Li, and Sicular (2008). This volume not only contains analyses based on the data from the fourth wave, 2007 but also uses data from the earlier waves to understand trends over time.
Eichen and Zhang (1993) describe the 1988 survey, and Li et al. (2008) describe the 1995 and 2002 surveys. This Appendix provides basic information about the 2007 survey. The CHIP surveys are closely related to the NBS household survey. Li et al. (2008) discuss how the NBS household survey samples were selected. Additional details about the NBS household surveys can be found in recent NBS statistical reports and publications.
2 - Overview
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- By Shi Li, Beijing Normal University, Luo Chuliang, Beijing Normal University, Terry Sicular, University of Western Ontario
- Edited by Shi Li, Beijing Normal University, Hiroshi Sato, Hitotsubashi University, Tokyo, Terry Sicular, University of Western Ontario
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- Book:
- Rising Inequality in China
- Published online:
- 05 July 2013
- Print publication:
- 31 October 2013, pp 44-84
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Summary
Introduction
It has been more than three decades since China started to transform its economy institutionally and structurally. The economic transformation has stimulated rapid economic growth in both GDP and personal incomes. From 1978 to 2007 the annual growth of GDP averaged close to 10 percent and that of household per capita income more than 7 percent. The rate of economic growth was even more impressive in later years, including the period under study in this chapter. From 2002 to 2007, annual growth of GDP was 11.6 percent and of rural and urban household per capita income 6.8 and 9.6 percent, respectively.
Although the reforms were successful in promoting GDP growth, by the early 2000s, concerns about rising disparities and sustainability prompted the government to announce a new development strategy emphasizing sustainable, harmonious growth. A new policy program, referred to as the “scientific outlook on development” (kexue fazhanguan), or the “Hu-Wen New Policies” (Hu-Wen xin zheng), aimed to promote development in urban and rural areas, reduce regional disparities, narrow income inequalities, and establish a social protection network with broad coverage over most of the population. As discussed in Chapters 1 and 5, the new policy program contained a series of pro-rural measures. These included the elimination of agricultural taxes, which had been in place for almost sixty years, and the adoption of new farm subsidies, for example, for grain production, purchase of agricultural inputs, and farm insurance (Lin and Wong 2012). By the end of 2007, Chinese rural households were no longer paying agricultural taxes, and total agricultural production subsidies from the central government exceeded 50 billion yuan (Lin and Wong 2012; Ministry of Agriculture 2007).
Appendix: The 1995 and 2002 Household Surveys: Sampling Methods and Data Description
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- By Li Shi, Professor of economics School of Economics and Business, Beijing Normal University, Luo Chuliang, Associate Professor Institute of Economics of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, Beijing, China, Wei Zhong, Professor Institute of Economics of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, Beijing, China, Yue Ximing, Professor School of Finance, Renmin University of China, Beijing, China
- Edited by Björn A. Gustafsson, Li Shi, Beijing Normal University, Terry Sicular, University of Western Ontario
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- Book:
- Inequality and Public Policy in China
- Published online:
- 25 July 2009
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- 07 April 2008, pp 337-354
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Summary
Following the successful completion of the first two Chinese household income (CHIP) surveys for 1988 and 1995, a new survey project team, composed of researchers from the Institute of Economics of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences (CASS) together with associated Chinese and international scholars, and with the assistance of the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS), conducted a third survey in the spring of 2003 for the reference year 2002. The aim of the third survey was to examine the dynamic changes in income distribution in China that had taken place since 1988 and 1995.
Project teams from the 1988 and 1995 surveys published their analyses and research results in two volumes, Griffin and Zhao (1993) and Riskin, Zhao, and Li (2001). The first of these volumes contains an appendix describing the sampling method and data description for the 1988 survey, but the second volume lacks such an appendix for the 1995 survey. In view of this, and since most of the chapters in this volume use data from both the 1995 and 2002 surveys, this appendix describes both the 1995 and 2002 samples.
The CHIP surveys are closely related to the NBS household surveys, so we first give a brief explanation of how the NBS household survey samples were selected. We then describe the sampling method and data for the 1995 and 2002 surveys.
11 - What Determines Living Arrangements of the Elderly in Urban China?
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- By Meng Xin, professor Division of Economics in the Research School of Pacific and Asian Studies, Australian National University, Canberra, Australia, Luo Chuliang, Associate Professor Institute of Economics of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, Beijing, China
- Edited by Björn A. Gustafsson, Li Shi, Beijing Normal University, Terry Sicular, University of Western Ontario
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- Book:
- Inequality and Public Policy in China
- Published online:
- 25 July 2009
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- 07 April 2008, pp 267-286
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Summary
Introduction
The welfare of the elderly is an important issue in the study of income equality, as old age is often associated with low incomes and income insecurity, especially in the developing world where the social security system is not well established. When income distribution widens it is often the elderly who are among the increasingly disadvantaged. In China economic transition has adversely changed the economic well-being and social stratification of the elderly through health care and pension reforms (Raymo and Yu 2000; Saunders et al. 2003). Due to these reforms, many old workers lost their expected pensions and are currently under limited health and income protection. In addition, demographic changes brought about by the one-child policy have led China to join developed countries prematurely in becoming an aging society. Rapid aging has cast doubt on the ability of the newly established Pay-as-You-Go (PAYG) pension scheme (Cai and Meng 2003). If the current PAYG system fails, which has been argued by many studies (World Bank 1997; Whiteford 2003; Murton 2002), the elderly population will suffer significantly. Under these circumstances, a question naturally arises as to how China can adjust its policy to assist its aging population in this particularly difficult period. In this chapter we investigate one of the most effective ways through which the elderly's well-being may be improved – coresiding.