While goods provided by the market are in great
supply in China's flourishing economy, public goods are in great
shortage.
On June 13, over a thousand applicants queued in
the scorching sun in a long line that extended for more than 500
meters in order to buy an affordable flat in Tiantongyuan on the
outskirts of Beijing.
Affordable housing, as a part of the social
security system aimed at low-income families, is in short supply in
the capital. According to the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS),
investment in affordable housing construction accounted for only 10
percent of total investment in residential housing construction in
2004 – only slightly higher than the 7 percent in the first five
months of this year.
On July 16 and 17, 2,500 students from 19 schools
in 17 villages received immunization from a local epidemic
prevention station in Sixian County, Anhui
Province, and around 300 were taken ill afterwards. Though the
vaccines used were proved safe later, the chaos in their purchase
and supply by grassroots organizations revealed hidden hazards for
public health in rural areas.
Back in 2003, the outbreak of SARS (severe acute
respiratory syndrome) also showed a lack of public health emergency
mechanisms, disease prevention and control systems, etc.
Other public goods such as basic education,
environmental protection, basic laws and regulations are all in
short supply.
China is now entering a period with increasing
demand for public goods. International experiences indicate that as
per capita GDP exceeds US$1,000 and heads towards US$3,000, the
demand for public goods will expand rapidly. Modernization in this
period is mainly based on public services.
The country is now at such a stage with per capita
GDP exceeding US$1,000 in 2003. People have shifted focus from
demand for enough food and clothing to that for public services
such as education, medical treatment and sanitation.
The gap between cities and the countryside is
widening. For a long time, China's public goods have been mainly
provided to city and town residents. However, the majority
population of 800 million farmers does not have adequate access to
government financed public goods.
The minimum living standard system was initiated in
1997. By May 2002, 3.38 million people in rural areas were covered
by it, accounting for 10 percent of rural poor. However, those
under the umbrella of the system are mostly households enjoying the
five guarantees and disabled people who have lost the ability to
work, making it more like social relief.
Prices of medical treatment and medicines have been
set according to the income of urban people. Farmers, on incomes
only one sixth that of urban people, cannot afford them.
Also widening is the gap between rich and poor.
According to the White Paper entitled China's Employment
Situation and Policies, there is now a surplus of 150 million
rural laborers who need to be shifted to non-agricultural
industries or to cities, and over 11 million laid-off workers who
need to be reemployed.
According to a World Bank report, China's Gini
Coefficient, an international index used to measure income
distribution, now stands at 0.458, higher than the internationally
recognized alarm threshold of 0.4. NBS figures show the richest 10
percent of the population possess 45 percent of the total wealth in
China, while the poorest 10 percent only possess 1.4 percent.
China now has an increasing number of migrant
people who have become an important part of their adopted cities.
However, many policy barriers in education, social security,
permanent residency and employment have prevented them from having
equal rights. Basic legal guarantees are greatly needed.
China is gradually growing into a citizens' society
from one that takes official rank or status as the only criterion
for judging one's social worth. A citizens' society accentuates
interaction between government and citizens.
Government should take measures based on public
opinion and the public should participate in and supervise the
establishment and implementation of public policies.
In the establishment of a citizens' society, public
demand for information on risk-prevention and policy development
increases, but that supplied is often too little, too late and
inaccurate or vague, and citizens don't have enough channels to
voice their opinions.
Related:
1st
Public Service Commitee Established
Fairnes
and Liability Urged
(China.org.cn by Yuan Fang August 1, 2005)