To what extent has the Chinese government been successful at tackling the

problem of income inequality?

Income inequality is a serious problem responsible for widespread
sentiments of social dissatisfaction that directly threatened the political
legitimacy of the CCP government. Since 1978, due to deliberate
government preferential policies and differing geographical endowments,
inhabitants of the coastal cities have been earning more than 3times that of
their counterparts in the countryside. Within the rural and urban domains
too, there were huge inequalities in revenue between the rich and the poor.
While the majority struggled to make ends meet amidst rapidly rising costs
of living, the wealthy and the powerful derived excessive benefits from the
countrys development. Governments success has been woefully limited
because even though they were well-intentioned, measures to resolve
income inequality have been undermined by factors which were
consequences of rapid economic growth and the current conditions of China.
Seriousness of income inequality was recognized by the Chinese leadership,
given the severity of its social and political consequences. Income disparity
hence social inequality threatened CCPs avowed socialist aims at bringing
about a just society. Rich and powerful were able to flout laws with their
wealth watched by the disgruntled majority. Problems such as rural
discontent and the resultant mass migration to cities challenged CCPs
governance. Hu Jintaos advocacy of Harmonious society and Scientific
Concept of Development was targeted at a more balanced share of wealth.
Hu in the Seventh Party Congress also stressed the importance of helping the
underprivileged masses.
Well-intentioned and drastic governmental measures have been
implemented to tackle income inequality from all angles, hence heightening
their chances of success. To tackle urban-rural division, the Go West policy
was implemented to channel investments and development to the inland
provinces. A system of guaranteeing residents minimum living standards
has been established in some 330cities. An unfied basic old-age social
insurance system for enterprise employees has started. The Chinese
government has introduced a pension program for rural residents aged 20 to
60 who can make personal contributions to individual retirement accounts.
Experimental reform of the medical insurance system was expanded.
Development was made in elementary education by popularizing nine year
compulsory education contributing to the elimination of illiteracy. Recent
date indicates that the average length of education in various provinces
range between 5 to 7years.
However, conditions created by prior and existing developmental strategies
of the country continued to income disparity. Dengs let some get rich first
policy has resulted in the coastal provinces gaining a strong head start over

the other regions as the former received the bulk of the nations resources
and foreign investments. Emphasis on rapid growth of the developed areas
continued to receive emphasis in the Seventeenth Party Congress. Most of
Chinas high priority economic projects were confined to Eastern provinces.
These included the construction of an ego-city and a world-class port in
Tianjin, the industrialization of northeast China. Better and more modern
social amenities and infrastructure were built in the urban rather than rural
areas due to governmental attempt to rapidly upgrade the major Chinese
cities. Cities were becoming financial centers with relatively higher
accumulation of capital wealth. Prices that could be accrued form rural grain
products were suppressed to lower food costs for the nation. This limited the
income of peasantry.
Meanwhile, rising inflationary pressures undermined governments efforts to
improve the livelihood of the majority. Despite governments intervention at
controlling the prices of essential products, the countrys inflation has been
rising half as fast as Chinas spectacular double-digit economic growth. CPI
leaped as global commodity, food and energy prices increased. Rise in the
workers minimum wages was unable to compensate for their losses given
the high inflationary pressures. Sufferings of the rural populace were further
worsened by the heightened frequency of natural disasters by the turn of the
century which destroyed crops, reduced food supply and thus raised food
prices for all.
Geographical differences too played an important part at delaying the
beneficial effects of governments measures to create a more equal society.
Inland provinces with poor accessibility and meager arable land such as
Gansu and Qinghai, remained impoverished despite governmental attempt
to develop them. Commercial centers and ports which facilitate Chinas
export-oriented economy are located in the coastal provinces. Hostile
climate, shortage of fresh water supply and difficult terrains especially in the
northwestern provinces deter many from settling up businesses there.
Private companies are reluctant to invest in and relocate to the countryside
as coast of production which includes transport, employment and training of
workers would be too high.
Specific governmental policies aimed at enhancing overall national priorities
sacrifice the interests of the underprivileged. The problem of income
inequality is worsened by some of the central governments discriminatory
policies against the poorer regions. Construction of the Three Gorges Dam
affected the livelihood of millions who dwell in the interior provinces. Many
were undercompensated for the loss of their lands and jobs. Chinas hosting
of the 2008 Olympics Games has forced the diversion of water supply from
the surrounding rural regions of Hebei province into Beijing. Peasants felt
that their well-being was undermined for the benefit of the city folks. Nuclear

bomb tests are often conducted in the faraway Xinjiang province, which
caused severe health problems for some of its minority inhabitants.
Corruption and abuse of power by local officials created problems that
worsened the lives of the poor. Corruption is rampant at the local levels far
from the effective supervision of the central or even the provincial
authorities. Misappropriations of land form the poor by corrupted officials are
common occurrences. Intolerable rural living conditions such as
environmental degradation and poor social amenities are often
consequences of poor local governance. The majority are dissatisfied by the
fact that the well-off could bribe their way to even circumventing the law,
such as the One Child Policy.
In conclusion, gross income inequality could hardly be eradicated as it is an
inevitable consequence of China rapid development and its quest for
national greatness. Governmental measures to counter the challenge,
though bold and drastic, are therefore limited in their effectiveness.