Social policy and economic reform in China
25 November 2008
Beijing seminars look at social impact of 30 years of Chinese development success
DFID's international seminar series turned its focus to the social aspects of China’s 30 years of reform at two events in Beijing last week.
These discussions took place at a crucial historical moment, with the social impacts of the global financial crisis becoming apparent and the central and provincial Chinese governments announcing the equivalent of around £1.4 trillion to stimulate the country's financial system.
During the first seminar, hosted by DFID, the United Nations Research Institute for Social Development (UNRISD) and the International Poverty Reduction Center in China (IPRCC) over the 17 and 18 November, it was made clear that there are no simple lessons from China’s 30 years of reform. Successful development and poverty reduction, it was found, consist of constant policy innovation and the ability to adjust to newly emerging challenges.
Social policies at centre of economic progress
As has been demonstrated during the recent global research programme conducted
by UNRISD and funded by DFID, good social policies not only improve the delivery
of services and enhance social protection, but are vital to building the
preconditions for economic growth. For example, the right health and education
policies can create a productive labour force, and public policies and social
services can lay the foundations for the ‘social contract’ that must lie behind
any economic success. Read more on the
UNRISD
and the
IPCC
websites.
The Beijing seminar included presentations showing how social policies established in the pre-reform period led to key achievements in primary health care and education, despite very low levels of Gross Domestic Product. After the liberalisation policies of 1978, social development indicators did not improve as much as economic indicators, but were not neglected either.
A presentation by Professor Zhang Xiulan of Beijing Normal University highlighted how China’s government has emphasised social policy as a key instrument for political and social stability, most recently - as professors Guan Xinping and Li Shi also stressed - as part of attempts to reduce inequalities and create a more harmonious society. Social policy will also be critical in the response to economic crises and resulting social tensions. Professor Zhang will be elaborating on these themes in her lecture at the Institute of Development Studies (IDS), Sussex on 27 November.
Responding to the changing nature of poverty
On 20 November at a subsequent Beijing seminar, Professor Wang Xiaoyi of the China Academy of Social Sciences (CASS) spoke of how, despite poverty reduction and improvements in the welfare of the Chinese people, the challenges to public policies have not disappeared, and the need for more universal policies are in fact more apparent.
CASS research has shown that, as the difference between the average income and the official poverty line has increased, the poverty line has become meaningless in Chinese villages. Social factors are rapidly becoming more important than traditional issues such as hunger. For instance, marriage costs have increased faster that people’s incomes, and at the centre of people's feelings of deprivation are the lack of social security and social support.
With the nature of poverty changing, Professor Wang concluded that policy needs
to become more responsive to diversity and local realities, and move away from
targeted projects to more universal and inclusive policies. The presentation
will soon be available at the new website of CASS's Centre for Rural
Environmental Social Studies (CASS
Chinese language website).
Links
- 30 years of development success - what lessons for the next 30 years? - More about the seminar series
