In our coverage of the meaning of China’s 12th 5 Year Plan over the last 16 months we have emphasized our interpretation as being one of “Wealth Through Health” – In other words to sustain development and growth the Central government want to ensure
- The health of the people (good for pharma and healthcare companies)
- The health of the environment (good for clean and green tech companies)
- The health of social cohesion by expanding development and wealth distribution where needed (good for almost all companies)
- The health of the economy (by diversifying into services and consumption – also good for most companies)
The health or harmony of society will come from increased development, investment and social services in underdeveloped regions and ensuring that the gap between rich and poor shrinks. This was our viewpoint in December 2010 and remains so. This announcement seems to be a move toward tackling the social cohesion element. It will be interesting to see what the results are. This is NOT the kind of information that China normally likes to share internally or externally.
From the Associated Press:
BEIJING — Chinese state media say the government plans to conduct a nationwide income survey to help it calculate a politically sensitive measure of wealth inequality.
The China Daily newspaper on Tuesday quoted a National Statistics Bureau official as saying the survey will be conducted with help from Canada and the results will be published next year.
Xie Hongguang says the release of the standarized survey data will pave the way for calculating a wealth-inequality statistic known as the Gini coefficient. The statistic has been released previously for rural but not urban residents.
The government has promised hefty increases in social spending to help narrow the gap between China’s poor majority and an elite who have profited from three decades of economic reform.
