China News Agency reporter Wang Enbo
In the white paper “China’s Comprehensive Well-off Society” recently released by Chinese officials, “people” has become one of the key words. The full text of the white paper mentions the “people” more than 200 times, and uses a special chapter to explain that “a well-off society in an all-round way is a well-off society for all people.”
What can the public get for a well-off society in an all-round way?
Data Map: Social Security Card.Photo by China News Agency reporter Zhang Bin
Longing for a better life into reality
All-round well-off, people-oriented, people’s livelihood first. From a series of statistical data provided by the white paper, we can see that children have education, education, work, medical care, elderly care, housing, housing, and support for the weak. These 1.4 billion China People’s yearning for a better life is being better realized.
For example, the income of Chinese residents has continued to increase. The national per capita annual disposable income has increased from 171 yuan (RMB, the same below) in 1978 to 32,189 yuan in 2020; education is booming, and China’s pre-school education penetration rate and universal benefit rate exceed 84%, and the consolidation rate of nine-year compulsory education has reached 95% or more; social security benefits all people. China has basically established the world’s largest social security system, with basic medical insurance covering more than 1.3 billion people.
With the basic survival issues such as food and clothing worry-free, the Chinese people are able to think about how to live more moisturized lives.
Zhao Chenxin, Secretary-General of the National Development and Reform Commission of China, said that the Chinese people’s clothing, food, housing and transportation are constantly upgrading, and the consumption structure has realized the transition from a subsistence type to a development type and an improved type. The consumption of services such as education, tourism, culture and entertainment has continued to grow rapidly, and the level of public services such as employment, education, social security, medical care, and social governance has been significantly improved, and the people’s right to survival and development are effectively guaranteed.
Data map: The staff is busy on the production line of a textile workshop.Photo by China News Agency reporter Yu Jing
The gap between rich and poor tends to narrow overall
China is the largest developing country in the world, with a poor foundation, weak foundation, and uneven development. Only by letting the sun of a well-off in an all-round way illuminate every corner of the vast land of 9.6 million square kilometers can the fruits of development truly belong to all people.
Ning Jizhe, deputy director of the National Development and Reform Commission and Director of the National Bureau of Statistics, pointed out that since the 18th National Congress of the Communist Party of China, China’s economic strength has continued to rise, the people’s living standards have improved in an all-round way, and the income distribution pattern of residents has gradually improved. Although there is a gap between the rich and the poor, the income gap between urban and rural, regional and different groups of residents tends to narrow overall.
The white paper shows that by the end of 2020, China will complete the task of poverty alleviation in the new era on schedule. According to the current standards, 98.99 million rural poor people will be lifted out of poverty, 832 poor counties will be decapitated, and 128,000 poor villages will be listed. The income gap between urban and rural residents has further narrowed, and the ratio of per capita disposable income of urban and rural residents has declined steadily for 13 consecutive years since 2008.
Under the influence of the regional coordinated development strategy and the implementation of major regional strategies, the regional income gap has also narrowed as the regional development gap narrowed. According to Ning Jizhe, from 2011 to 2020, the relative gap in the per capita disposable income of residents between China’s highest-income provinces and the lowest-income provinces has been declining year by year. The income ratio has dropped from 4.62 in 2011 (the ratio of incomes between Shanghai and Tibet residents) to 3.55 in 2020. (The ratio of income between Shanghai and Gansu residents) is the lowest level since the beginning of the new century.
Data map: Aerial photography of relocation communities in Zaduo County, Qinghai Province.Photo by China News Agency reporter Sudan
Satisfy the pursuit of a higher quality of life
Building a well-off society in an all-round way means that China has achieved the phased goal of modernization. However, as people’s needs for a better life are becoming more and more extensive, in the fields of housing, medical care, education, and elderly care, some new concerns about people’s livelihood continue to appear.
After the establishment of a well-off society in an all-round way, how will it adapt to the new situation and meet the Chinese people’s higher pursuit of quality of life and taste?
Jia Ruoxiang, director of the Comprehensive Research Office of the National Development and Reform Commission’s Institute of Territorial Development and Regional Economics, believes that high-quality life involves not only material wealth, but also spiritual wealth and a civilized, harmonious and stable social environment. While bulging people’s money bags, they must also enrich their spiritual and cultural life, create a beautiful and livable living environment, and build a comfortable, secure, and reassuring social environment.
Zhao Chenxin revealed that the government will clarify powers and responsibilities, highlight key points through the distinction between basic and non-basic public services, use limited financial funds in the areas most urgently needed and most urgent for people’s livelihood protection, and strive for more social resources to invest in public services and fully mobilize them. All positive factors effectively solve the difficulties, pain points and blockages of the people’s livelihood, and continuously meet the people’s growing needs for a better life, so that the improvement of people’s livelihood will always resonate with economic development.