labels: economy - general
China balancing growth with social development, says Chinese expertnews
Our Economy Bureau
19 January 2005

Kochi: Efforts are on in China to strike a balance between market-based economic growth and social development based on the principles of equity. This was stated by Zhang Xiaoshan, director of the Rural Development Institute, Chinese Academy of Social Sciences (CASS), Beijing.

Prof. Zhang was participating in a discussion on a joint study plan made by CASS, Centre for Development Studies (CDS), Thiruvananthapuram, and Sampatpur University, Orissa, on social security schemes in rural India and China, at COSTFORD.

China was earlier following an egalitarian model of development that emphasised centralised planning. There was no room for individual incentives and, freedom was also restricted. These led to economic stagnation and China then wanted to reform its political, administrative, and economic structure. The reforms yielded economic growth and gave a lot of freedom to the people, he said.

Though Chinese economy and the country as a whole are more dynamic now, there are also growing problems of inequality, rural-urban divide, unemployment, and other forms of marginalisation and exclusion. China was now trying to evolve a development paradigm that would retain economic growth and ensure social equity, Prof. Zhang said.

He pointed out that reliance on unbridled market forces could lead to several problems including social chaos. Unleashing of market forces would provide incentives to the people to work more. At the same time, there should be a mechanism to motivate people to share with the poor at least a portion of the wealth they would acquire in market economies.

Replying to questions, Prof. Zhang said that indicators of disparity in income were now very high in China. There were also significant differences in the availability of disposable income among those in rural and urban areas. Unemployment was as high as 4.2 per cent as per the official estimates, but unofficially, it was estimated to be about six per cent, he said.

Asked about the steps China was taking to contain such problems, Prof Zhang said social security schemes were being worked out for the urban and rural poor. Efforts were also being made to reduce the burden of the people in the education and health sectors. He said Chinese experts felt that the participatory development approach that Kerala had been trying could provide inputs in China's attempt to evolve a new development paradigm.

The Indo-Chinese joint study plan is being undertaken in Thalikkulam in Thrissur, four small villages in Orissa, and one village in China. Du Yintang of CASS, Vijayamohan Pillai of the CDS, and T.R. Chandradutt, Director of COSTFORD, were among those who participated in the discussions.


 search domain-b
  go
 
China balancing growth with social development, says Chinese expert