Top 20 development trends in China over the next 20 years (part 3)
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9. The middle class has more say
This is a very easily understood concept. The economic basis will decide the superstructure. The middle class may be fading in the West, but in China, the middle class is on the rise. A society with a diamond-shaped structure will be easier to manage, and people's happiness index will be higher.
The values and lifestyles of the middle class, which stress taste, quality and physical pleasure, will become more popular. The middle class will become one of the happiest sectors of society.
As the number of people in this class grows, this group will continue to increase its influence and say. But at the same time, as the government tries primarily to maintain peace and stability, the needs and interests of the vested interest class and the underprivileged class will often be considered first. As for the middle class, no one will care.
10. Values and values systems become more individual and personal
There is no doubt that consumer culture will change the Chinese lifestyle. As the consciousness of individual rights increases, people's pursuits will become more diverse. Mainstream values will focus on the culture of individualism which stresses the achievement of maximum personal value. All the arts will stress individualism, and in the future 20 years, mainstream culture will focus on the expression of personality and the fulfillment of individual.
Society will exhibit more tolerance for individual identities, including sexuality, personal habits and arts. In the next 20 years, a tide of anti-discrimination will rise. Feminism and minority rights will form the core of this movement.
11. The extreme deterioration of the environment
The severe damage done to China’s natural environment goes beyond anything one could imagine. Extreme weather year after year, vast drought in southwestern China, and overwhelming floods in summertime are clear evidence of climate change brought on by this degradation. Desertification in northern China, a nationwide shortage of clean water, solid garbage disposal, solid waste pollution will all become grim challenges.
In the next 20 years, China's environment will further deteriorate for several major reasons. First, China's GDP-focused economy encourages the country to seek higher GDP at the expense of the environment. Second, low-level officials have low-level management capabilities, and they often do whatever they can to increase their government rank and interests rather than caring about environmental protection. Third, China's economic structure relies too heavily on industries that are not environment-friendly, which means that top decision makers often get trapped in a dilemma when pushing for the adjustment of the industrial structure or the transformation of economic development models. Environmental protection will become a long-term slogan, but it will just remain a slogan.
The only way out is to give more consideration to environmental indexes and make such indexes a proportionally larger part of the assessment of the work of officials at every level. But those officials may also produce fake data to protect themselves, causing environment problems to stay the same or become worse.
Chinese people will be tortured by having to live in a land suffering from environmental damage, dirty water and food, and air pollution. Major effects will include including bad weather, extreme climate, disease and infertility.
12. The price of resources stays stable
As the world enters a new phase development in which clean energy exploration is more prominent, many alternative energy sources will appear one after another. Excluding inflation factors, the prices of traditional resources will stay stable, and may even experience a comparative price drop. Global petroleum prices will decline in the next 15 years, and coal may cease to be used in 30 years. Metal substitutes will become more and more common, and metal prices (excluding rare metals and noble metals) will drop.
The only resources that may see prices rise will be medical materials, especially those related to genetics. Within the next decade, people will develop real genetically-based cures, which will be revolutionary in the medical field and will lead to a whole new era of medical treatment. Personally customized and precise treatment plans will become a reality.
Traditional medicine will also be upgraded, and medicines may be able to act without side effects. The explosive increase in the demand for genetic medicine will contribute to its constant price increases.
Top 20 development trends in China over the next 20 years (part 2)http://www.china.org.cn/china/2014-10/04/content_33658155.htm
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