- 20 Jul 2004 14:13
#386845
Who would have thought it--Corrupt Marxists
http://www.guardian.co.uk/china/story/0 ... 17,00.html
China's fading socialist credentials almost disappeared yesterday when the government admitted that the number of farmers living in poverty surged by 800,000 last year despite a 9% economic growth rate that enriched the urban middle class and corrupt party officials.
The first rise in poverty since the start of market-orientated reforms in 1978 will embarrass and alarm the communist leadership, which sees the growing gap between urban rich and rural poor as the greatest threat to the stability of the world's most populous country.
According to the Poverty Alleviation Office, the government's poverty taskforce, the rise means that more than 85 million - one in 11 rural residents - subsist on less than 637 yuan (£41) a year.
The national poverty rate remains extremely serious, the director of the taskforce, Liu Jian, told Beijing News. His comments were surprisingly candid, emphasising the growing importance of the poverty debate in the higher echelons of the party.
The trickle-down benefits of spectacular economic growth of between 7% and 9% are questionable. Although the coastal manufacturing and financial centres are more prosperous than ever, the poorest in remote inland areas have seen fewer benefits.
Yesterday, Beijing blamed natural disasters, and pointed out that the number of peasants living on slightly higher incomes of 882 yuan a year (16p a day) fell by 1.2 million.
But officials and economists say it is becoming more difficult to spread the benefits of economic growth to the countryside. During the 1990s, 6 million people a year were lifted out of poverty. In 2001 and 2002, this had shrunk to fewer than 2 million.
"The rise in abject poverty in rural areas is not a surprise," said Lin Yueqil of the Social Studies Institute of China. "The economy is growing as fast as ever, but the quality of the growth is declining," Professor Lin said. "It is less efficient in alleviating poverty so we are seeing a rising gap between the top and the bottom income groups."
Although the central government has pumped vast sums into the least-developed western areas, much of it is reportedly wasted by corrupt or inefficient officials.
The National Audit Association recently estimated that a tenth of the 48.8bn yuan spent on government poverty alleviation schemes was embezzled.
For a government notorious for its secretiveness, the public disclosure of such critical reports is unusual. Speculation in Beijing is that the release of such figures and audit results is part of a tussle between the left and right wings of the party.
President Hu Jintao and the prime minister, Wen Jiabao - both on the interventionist left - have called for "balanced development", which focuses on wealth distribution and social justice rather than the growth-at-all-costs policy of former president Jiang Zemin. The rightwing supporters of Mr Jiang - who remains head of the People's Liberation Army - are thought to have more to fear from audits and corruption investigations.
Yesterday's report is an embarrassment for a Communist party that still claims to be successfully pursuing "socialism with Chinese characteristics".
Less than two months ago, China hosted a global poverty alleviation conference during which it won plaudits from the World Bank, the British government and others for lifting up to 400 million out of destitution over the past 25 years.
But the problem of inequality is growing. In a report earlier this year, the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences said that average urban incomes were 3.1 times higher than those in the countryside - a ratio equivalent to that of Zimbabwe. Taking into account the cost of education and health, it branded the gap in the standard of living between city folk and peasants as the worst in the world.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/china/story/0 ... 17,00.html
China's fading socialist credentials almost disappeared yesterday when the government admitted that the number of farmers living in poverty surged by 800,000 last year despite a 9% economic growth rate that enriched the urban middle class and corrupt party officials.
The first rise in poverty since the start of market-orientated reforms in 1978 will embarrass and alarm the communist leadership, which sees the growing gap between urban rich and rural poor as the greatest threat to the stability of the world's most populous country.
According to the Poverty Alleviation Office, the government's poverty taskforce, the rise means that more than 85 million - one in 11 rural residents - subsist on less than 637 yuan (£41) a year.
The national poverty rate remains extremely serious, the director of the taskforce, Liu Jian, told Beijing News. His comments were surprisingly candid, emphasising the growing importance of the poverty debate in the higher echelons of the party.
The trickle-down benefits of spectacular economic growth of between 7% and 9% are questionable. Although the coastal manufacturing and financial centres are more prosperous than ever, the poorest in remote inland areas have seen fewer benefits.
Yesterday, Beijing blamed natural disasters, and pointed out that the number of peasants living on slightly higher incomes of 882 yuan a year (16p a day) fell by 1.2 million.
But officials and economists say it is becoming more difficult to spread the benefits of economic growth to the countryside. During the 1990s, 6 million people a year were lifted out of poverty. In 2001 and 2002, this had shrunk to fewer than 2 million.
"The rise in abject poverty in rural areas is not a surprise," said Lin Yueqil of the Social Studies Institute of China. "The economy is growing as fast as ever, but the quality of the growth is declining," Professor Lin said. "It is less efficient in alleviating poverty so we are seeing a rising gap between the top and the bottom income groups."
Although the central government has pumped vast sums into the least-developed western areas, much of it is reportedly wasted by corrupt or inefficient officials.
The National Audit Association recently estimated that a tenth of the 48.8bn yuan spent on government poverty alleviation schemes was embezzled.
For a government notorious for its secretiveness, the public disclosure of such critical reports is unusual. Speculation in Beijing is that the release of such figures and audit results is part of a tussle between the left and right wings of the party.
President Hu Jintao and the prime minister, Wen Jiabao - both on the interventionist left - have called for "balanced development", which focuses on wealth distribution and social justice rather than the growth-at-all-costs policy of former president Jiang Zemin. The rightwing supporters of Mr Jiang - who remains head of the People's Liberation Army - are thought to have more to fear from audits and corruption investigations.
Yesterday's report is an embarrassment for a Communist party that still claims to be successfully pursuing "socialism with Chinese characteristics".
Less than two months ago, China hosted a global poverty alleviation conference during which it won plaudits from the World Bank, the British government and others for lifting up to 400 million out of destitution over the past 25 years.
But the problem of inequality is growing. In a report earlier this year, the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences said that average urban incomes were 3.1 times higher than those in the countryside - a ratio equivalent to that of Zimbabwe. Taking into account the cost of education and health, it branded the gap in the standard of living between city folk and peasants as the worst in the world.
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