The Chinese society by 2050 will be a moderately developed one with a modernization level among the world top 40. After 50 years of further efforts China will join the rank of a world top 20 in modernization degree and finally achieve overall social modernization.

The prediction was made by He Chuanqi, director of the China Center for Modernization Research, Chinese Academy of Sciences, at the Fourth Forum on China Modernization Studies hosted by the center, which opened on Thursday in Beijing.

To secure the goal by 2050, He said, China should implement national strategies regarding anti-poverty, social welfare, urbanization, social informalization and knowledge society. It faces six tasks: to eradiate absolute poverty (internationally defined poverty), child labor, urban-rural income gap, farmer-worker income gap, informalization gap and knowledge gap. At the same time the nation should strive for a society featuring long and healthy life, new-type welfare, strong human resources, credit management, urban-rural balance, informalization, knowledge and consistent learning.

The moderately developed society by 2050 will be represented by the following facts: life expectancy exceeds eighty; college education coverage, urbanization and informalization exceeding 80 percent; coverage of age, medical and unemployment insurances reaching 100 percent; people being able to flow freely and rationally, with an outbound travel rate over 50 percent; the minimum monthly salary tops US$ 1,300 based on 2002 prices; and absolute poverty and child labor to drop to zero.

By People's Daily Online