How to optimize social structure in China?

Developed countries feature a social structure of an "Olive shape", which is smaller on both ends yet swelled up in the middle due to the existence of a large number of a middle class. What is the specific feature of the social structure in China? As there is so far no large number of a middle-class in China and the majority of the people are under the middle class, so experts described the social structure metaphorically to be of an "Onion shape".

The basic judgement of the present social structure in China was recently elucidated in detail in a report entitled the "mobility of the contemporary Chinese society". The report was formed on the basis of samplings done during past several years in some 72 cities and counties of 12 provinces, autonomous regions and municipalities and on hearing the scholastic views and opinions of many experts and scholars.

Experts hold that judging from the general trend in the world and especially in China the initial shape of a modern social structure has already come into being and there are three possibilities with regard to its development in future.

First, the initial shape of the social structure, just like a new-born child, is able to get in the continuous social and economic development enough nutrition and condition for growth to grow healthily and favorably into a fair, reasonable and open social stratum structure. And it will finally realize a benign transition from the "onion shape" into an "olive shape".

Secondly, due to an untimely introduced system and policy for which the social development lags behind the economic development the weak newborn child will be landed in a plight of malnutrition and unable to get a timely treatment. Therefore, it faces a growing condition sometimes good and sometimes bad and might grow into a deformed figure or in other words the social stratum structure will be developed in a morbid way.

Thirdly, there occurs a serious inharmonious development in social and economic structure. The weak newborn child is faced with an environment very bad for its survival and development both at home and abroad. It's entirely impossible for it to grow into a modernized social stratum structure and unable to support the social-economic development as it should be able to.

Beyond doubt, a fair, reasonable and open social stratum structure is the one for a medium-developed modernized socialist country. That is to say, the ideal and benign result in the development is the first kind. Actually, Deng Xiaoping already put forward this magnificent objective in his famous "three-step forward" strategy in as early as 1980s.

No need to put it obscurely, the Chinese society at present is now in the process of being transformed into a modernized pattern and the new pattern of social structure is playing an daily-increasing role. However, some unfair, unreasonable old habits and customs are still there blocking the way for favorable changes of the social structure and they are still producing some negative effects and influences that impede the social development.

It can be seen clearly that the transition of the Chinese social structure pattern into a modernized one has already come to a crucial juncture. If it is done well, a fair, reasonable and open social structure will eventually be able to come into being. If it is not well done the social development will come to a standstill and the evolution of the social stratum structure will result in as what is mentioned in the second and third category.

Scholars of the subject "on the social stratum structure of contemporary China" of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences advocate that to realize the first result in social stratum structure change and avoid the second and the third the primary requirement is to continue to deepen the system reform, wipe out such systematic barriers as household registration, employment and personnel arrangement, thereby making the social flow channels more smooth and favorable. Next is to readjust and renew the policies, speed up the growth of the middle class in the society, thus promoting the social stratum structure to change into an olive shape. The third is to readjust and make new the disposition mechanism of public resources so as to realize a fair and reasonable disposition of the public resources and the fourth is to work out a correct strategy for urbanization so as to speed up the urbanization paces.

To put all these in a nutshell, to form into a fair, reasonable and open social stratum structure of an olive shape there are still many problems to be solved and many barriers to be pull down. Only by solving these problems with those barriers pull down can the initial shape of a modern social stratum structure in China get condition and opportunity for a healthy and favorable development, thereby forming a truly modernized social stratum structure.

By People's Daily Online