Abstract
This chapter explores whether the rise of the middle class in China is possible. Although China’s current economic and social development faces many difficulties and challenges, there are also many favorable conditions, centering around five main aspects. Firstly, the new stage of the Four-Pronged Strategy will promote great changes in China; secondly, China’s economic transformation will provide a solid basis for the development and expansion of the middle class; thirdly, China’s social transformation will create better conditions for the development and expansion of the middle class; fourthly, the policies formulated by the Chinese Government will be improved continuously, thus accelerating the development and expansion of the middle class; and, fifthly, the valuable experience of foreign countries can serve as a reference. Supported by these five favorable conditions, the rise of the middle class in contemporary China looks promising.
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Notes
- 1.
Xi Jinping: Speech at the Symposium with Excellent Youth Representatives from All Walks of Life, Xinhua Net, May 4, 2013.
- 2.
Quoted from Ten Cases of Injustice, Falsehood and Wrongdoing Corrected by the National Court Last Year and Nanfang Daily, March 19, 2015.
- 3.
Quoted from The List of 98 Tigers Since the Eighteenth National Congress: A Big Gathering of Military Tigers and Female Tigers, The Paper Network, March 18, 2015.
- 4.
Data such as the number of persons investigated and punished in this paragraph and texts in quotation marks is quoted from the China Discipline Commission Website: More Grass-roots Corrupt Officials Will Be Combated This Year, China News Network, February 15, 2015.
- 5.
The quoted text in this paragraph is from the Decision of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China on Several Major Issues Concerning the Comprehensive Deepening of Reform.
- 6.
Data is cited from The Statistical Bulletin of National Economic and Social Development of the People's Republic of China in 2013.
- 7.
From Xu Shaoshi, Director of the National Development and Reform Commission Answered Journalists’ Questions, Xinhua Net, May 3.
- 8.
In some countries, the growth rate of per capita national income is relatively fast and the level of per capita national income is high. However, due to inappropriate government policies, unfair income distribution and the widening gap between the rich and poor, the size of the domestic middle class does not rise, but falls; on the contrary, in some countries, the growth rate of the per capita national income is slow and the level is relatively low but, due to the appropriate government policies, the middle class keeps expanding.
- 9.
Quoted from Ministry of Human Resources and Social Affairs Issued the Proportion of Employed Population in China's Three Industries in 2011, People’s Daily, June 5, 2012.
- 10.
From Ministry of Human Resources and Social Affairs: 770 Million Employees in China at the End of Last Year, Sina Net, May 8, 2014.
- 11.
Quoted from the report of Hu Jintao at the Eighteenth National Congress of the Communist Party of China: Firmly March On The Path Of Socialism With Chinese Characteristics And Strive to Complete The Building of A Moderately Prosperous Society in All Respects.
- 12.
From Li Keqiang Denounces Some Government Institutions:“Proving Your Mother is Your Mother” is a Big Joke!, Chinese Business Gazette, May 7, 2015.
- 13.
Quoted from Honesty and Credit Cases, Baidu Wenku, April 13, 2015.
- 14.
Lin Xiaojie: Breakthrough Progress in Social Security Work in China Since the Sixteenth National Congress: Interview with Hu Xiaoyi, Vice Minister of Social Security Department, China Labor and Social Security Network, October 13, 2012.
- 15.
Extracted from The Seven Policies of Benefiting the People Directly Affected Our Lives in the First Half of 2015, People's Daily Network, June 26, 2015.
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Su, H., Wang, H., Chang, F. (2022). The Rise of the Middle Class in Contemporary China Looks Promising. In: The Rise of the Middle Class in Contemporary China. The Great Transformation of China. Palgrave Macmillan, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-19-5099-5_6
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-19-5099-5_6
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