China guide
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| © New Internationalist |
Nowhere is the contradiction between economic growth and sustainable development more explicit than in the People’s Republic of China. The hardships of poverty experienced by hundreds of millions of people lie hidden behind the "superlative" economic figures. And the democratic void in Chinese society contributes to the failure of central government to address the negative social and environmental impacts of runaway growth.
updated July 2008
Poverty in China
China offers an illuminating example of how inconsistent methods of calculating poverty have hampered assessment of progress towards the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). According to the 2005 China Human Development Report produced by a government agency, there were only 26 million Chinese living in extreme poverty at the end of 2004. By contrast a working paper published by the World Bank in 2008 suggests a figure of 287 million at the corresponding date. The discrepancy stems from China's own definition of extreme poverty which is barely one quarter of the international guideline figure of just over $1 per day purchasing power and which is one of the lowest of all national poverty thresholds adopted by developing countries.
Whatever the basis of calculation, it can be said with near certainty that poverty reduction has continued at great pace since 2004 and that China has already achieved the first MDG of halving extreme poverty. An equally certain but less admirable trend is a sharp rise in the Gini coefficient (the measure of income inequality) which has increased by 50% in China in the last 20 years and is now significantly higher than the measure in the US, an embarrassing contradiction for a country which remains under communist party rule.
This degree of inequality has its origins in China’s tradition of separate citizenship rights for city and countryside, a legacy which is accentuated by modern society. Government spending priorities since 1990 have concentrated on the eastern coastal regions of Shanghai, Tianjin, and Guangdong yielding a new urban middle class of 150 million Chinese aspiring to private ownership of property, luxury goods and even stock market assets. By contrast over 750 million struggle in the underdeveloped interior regions, the majority dependent on small scale agriculture. Poverty is most acute in the distant border regions and in those with concentrated ethnic minorities such as Xinjiang and Tibet.
The government seeks to address the potential social tensions springing from extreme inequality through its vision of achieving xiaokang, a “harmonious society”, by 2020 with social objectives which are consistent with the MDGs. China’s 11th 5 year plan (2006-2010) promises significant increases in spending on rural infrastructure together with initiatives such as the abolition of school fees and ending taxes on agriculture. In the meantime the divide has created a new category of poverty in the eastern cities where 150-200 million migrant workers grapple with their second class status in access to housing, health and children’s education, exposing them to poor working conditions and exploitation.
Health in China
Healthcare in the cities is vital to migrant and local workers alike as the effect of chronic environmental pollution in China is adding pressure on an already inadequate health system. When the World Bank produced a report in 2007 estimating that dangerous air and water quality contributes to 750,000 premature deaths each year, the Chinese government requested that key sections be deleted for fear of social unrest. With almost 50% of sewage being returned untreated to the ecosystem and ineffective controls over factory pollutants dumped in rivers, many people in China endure regular bouts of diarrhoea, intestinal worms and dysentery. The government has promised investment to bring safe drinking water to an additional 160 million people in the period 2006-2010, thereby achieving the MDG target. The position for safe sanitation is less clear.
Economic reforms initiated in the late 1970s provoked the gradual withdrawal of the benefits of free state medical care with the result that illness can bring economic ruin to a poor rural family. The government's response is the Rural Cooperative Medical Care fund which levies insurance contributions on central and regional governments and individuals. Although the scheme should extend to over 700 million beneficiaries in 2008 with government promises to double its contribution, payments from the fund rarely meet the full costs which therefore remain a barrier to seeking treatment.
Although HIV/AIDS prevalence in China is less than 0.1%, the conditions now widely recognised as necessary to avoid stigma and prevent the disease spreading from high risk groups have not yet been established. Government spending on its HIV/AIDS programme has increased dramatically but activist groups are discouraged and there is growing concern over the high levels of sexual ignorance amongst young people.
Food Security in China
China prides itself on food sufficiency, feeding 20% of the world’s population with 7% of the land, of which only about 10% is cultivable. Enabled by the gradual deregulation of commune-based agriculture in the 1980s, this achievement is now coming under pressure. In the decade to 2005, 21% of arable land was converted to non-agricultural use resulting in the loss of 20 million farmers. Environmental degradation affects the remaining land; for example, in the drought-prone North China plain, the groundwater table is falling by 1.5 metres each year.
The continued 30 year limit on government leases of farmland constrains private ownership and investment so that plots remain very small. Despite a succession of good harvests, the government may be abandoning the dream of self-sufficiency by expressing interest in purchasing agricultural land in Africa and South Asia. Nevertheless for the time being China is not a major importer of its staple food grains, rice, wheat and corn, casting doubt on claims that rising world food prices are attributable to Chinese consumption. The rise in demand for meat is met by importing soyabeans for animal feed. There are however reports that domestic food prices in China rose by 25% in the first quarter of 2008, implying significant pressure on the vast number of households who live below and just above the poverty line.
Climate Change in China
Concerns about food security will be heightened further by the potential impact of climate change. The uncertain effect of drought and floods on crop yields together with the upheaval in freshwater availability caused by melting glaciers have rung alarm bells in government. Adaptation plans feature the repair and improvement of irrigation and sea defence systems, together with the application of biotechnology to improve yields in adverse conditions.
The cost of adaptation may prove a key influence in China’s policy on mitigation. During 2007 China overtook the US as the world's largest contributor of carbon dioxide emissions, years ahead of forecasts. Dozens of new coal-fired power stations are coming on stream and the country accounts for over 40% of global usage of cement. China is also responsible for emissions indirectly through importing more tropical hardwood than the rest of the world combined, much of it sourced from illegal loggers in Indonesia and Papua New Guinea. Nevertheless, global finger-wagging at Chinese pollution should be tempered by the inherent complicity of rich country markets which are happy to purchase finished timber goods and to outsource manufacturing to China's special economic zones where they benefit from lower environmental and labour regulations than apply at home. Analysis of net exports suggests that about 15% of China's emissions should be attributed to western consumers.
Over-dependent on antiquated technology and coal, China’s energy consumption per unit of GDP is more than five times the European equivalent; this measure continued to rise in 2006 despite the government's goal to reduce it by 20% in the period 2006-2010. China refuses to contemplate specific emissions targets for as long as its per capita carbon footprint remains so much less than that in developed countries (3.5 tons per person pa compared with 20 tons in US in 2004). Equally the US refuses to accept a target without China's participation and the G8 summit in Japan in 2008 failed to resolve this impasse.
The OneWorld China Guide was first published in January 2005 with a text written by Volunteer Editor Tawia Abbam
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| Child in Guyiang, China © Tamilla Held |
Whatever the basis of calculation, it can be said with near certainty that poverty reduction has continued at great pace since 2004 and that China has already achieved the first MDG of halving extreme poverty. An equally certain but less admirable trend is a sharp rise in the Gini coefficient (the measure of income inequality) which has increased by 50% in China in the last 20 years and is now significantly higher than the measure in the US, an embarrassing contradiction for a country which remains under communist party rule.
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| Tibetan kids at a rural school © Barefoot Images / Tibet Information Network |
The government seeks to address the potential social tensions springing from extreme inequality through its vision of achieving xiaokang, a “harmonious society”, by 2020 with social objectives which are consistent with the MDGs. China’s 11th 5 year plan (2006-2010) promises significant increases in spending on rural infrastructure together with initiatives such as the abolition of school fees and ending taxes on agriculture. In the meantime the divide has created a new category of poverty in the eastern cities where 150-200 million migrant workers grapple with their second class status in access to housing, health and children’s education, exposing them to poor working conditions and exploitation.
Health in China
|
| Children, Guyiang, China © Tamilla Held |
Economic reforms initiated in the late 1970s provoked the gradual withdrawal of the benefits of free state medical care with the result that illness can bring economic ruin to a poor rural family. The government's response is the Rural Cooperative Medical Care fund which levies insurance contributions on central and regional governments and individuals. Although the scheme should extend to over 700 million beneficiaries in 2008 with government promises to double its contribution, payments from the fund rarely meet the full costs which therefore remain a barrier to seeking treatment.
Although HIV/AIDS prevalence in China is less than 0.1%, the conditions now widely recognised as necessary to avoid stigma and prevent the disease spreading from high risk groups have not yet been established. Government spending on its HIV/AIDS programme has increased dramatically but activist groups are discouraged and there is growing concern over the high levels of sexual ignorance amongst young people.
Food Security in China
|
| Cuisine, Guyiang, China © Tamilla Held |
The continued 30 year limit on government leases of farmland constrains private ownership and investment so that plots remain very small. Despite a succession of good harvests, the government may be abandoning the dream of self-sufficiency by expressing interest in purchasing agricultural land in Africa and South Asia. Nevertheless for the time being China is not a major importer of its staple food grains, rice, wheat and corn, casting doubt on claims that rising world food prices are attributable to Chinese consumption. The rise in demand for meat is met by importing soyabeans for animal feed. There are however reports that domestic food prices in China rose by 25% in the first quarter of 2008, implying significant pressure on the vast number of households who live below and just above the poverty line.
Climate Change in China
Concerns about food security will be heightened further by the potential impact of climate change. The uncertain effect of drought and floods on crop yields together with the upheaval in freshwater availability caused by melting glaciers have rung alarm bells in government. Adaptation plans feature the repair and improvement of irrigation and sea defence systems, together with the application of biotechnology to improve yields in adverse conditions.
The cost of adaptation may prove a key influence in China’s policy on mitigation. During 2007 China overtook the US as the world's largest contributor of carbon dioxide emissions, years ahead of forecasts. Dozens of new coal-fired power stations are coming on stream and the country accounts for over 40% of global usage of cement. China is also responsible for emissions indirectly through importing more tropical hardwood than the rest of the world combined, much of it sourced from illegal loggers in Indonesia and Papua New Guinea. Nevertheless, global finger-wagging at Chinese pollution should be tempered by the inherent complicity of rich country markets which are happy to purchase finished timber goods and to outsource manufacturing to China's special economic zones where they benefit from lower environmental and labour regulations than apply at home. Analysis of net exports suggests that about 15% of China's emissions should be attributed to western consumers.
Over-dependent on antiquated technology and coal, China’s energy consumption per unit of GDP is more than five times the European equivalent; this measure continued to rise in 2006 despite the government's goal to reduce it by 20% in the period 2006-2010. China refuses to contemplate specific emissions targets for as long as its per capita carbon footprint remains so much less than that in developed countries (3.5 tons per person pa compared with 20 tons in US in 2004). Equally the US refuses to accept a target without China's participation and the G8 summit in Japan in 2008 failed to resolve this impasse.
The OneWorld China Guide was first published in January 2005 with a text written by Volunteer Editor Tawia Abbam
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