Moderately prosperous society or Xiaokang society is a Chinese term, originally of Confucianism, used to describe a society composed of a functional middle-class. In December 1979, Deng Xiaoping, then paramount leader of China, first proposed the idea of "xiaokang" based on the "Four Modernizations".[1][2][3]
The term is best known in recent years through its use by Hu Jintao, General Secretary of the Communist Party of China between 2002 and 2012, when referring to economic policies intended to realize a more equal distribution of wealth. In the usages (tifa) of current General Secretary Xi Jinping, the term "Chinese Dream" has gained somewhat greater prominence. During the annual National Party Congress meeting of 2015, Xi unveiled a set of political slogans called the Four Comprehensives, which include "Comprehensively build a moderately prosperous society."[4]
Origins
It has been loosely translated as a "basically well-off" society in which the people are able to live relatively comfortably, albeit ordinarily. The term was first used in Classic of Poetry written as early as 3,000 years ago. Xiaokang may be associated with an Engel's coefficient of 40-50 percent.
Parameters of a Xiaokang Society
A well-off society is not a general and vague statement. He Keng, deputy director of the National Bureau of Statistics, said in an interview that in 1991, the National Bureau of Statistics and researchers from 12 departments including planning, finance, health, and education were formed. In accordance with the connotation of a well-off society proposed by the Party Central Committee and the State Council, 16 basic monitoring indicators and the critical value of a well-off society were established.[5]
(1) The per capita GDP is 2,500 RMB (At 1980 prices and exchange rates, 2,500 yuan is equivalent to $900)
(2) Urban per capita disposable income of 2,400 RMB
(3) The per capita net income of farmers is 1,200 RMB
(4) The per capita usable area of urban housing is 12 square meters
(5) The per capita usable area of rural steel-wood structure housing is 15 square meters;
(6) The per capita daily protein intake is 75 grams;
(7) Each person in the city has a paving area of 8 square meters;
(8) 85% of rural administrative villages are connected to roads;
(9) An Engel coefficient of 50%;
(10) The adult literacy rate is 85%;
(11) The average life expectancy is 70 years old
(12) Infant mortality rate is at 3.1%
(13) The proportion of education and entertainment expenditure is 11%
(14) TV penetration rate is 100%;
(15) The forest coverage rate is 15%;
(16) 100% of rural primary health care counties are qualified
Modern political discourse
Chinese leader Deng Xiaoping used the terms Xiaokang society in 1979 as the eventual goal of Chinese modernization.
The vision of a xiaokang society is one in which most people are moderately well off and middle class, and in which economic prosperity is sufficient to move most of the population in mainland China into comfortable means, but in which economic advancement is not the sole focus of society. Explicitly incorporated into the concept of a Xiaokang society is the idea that economic growth needs to be balanced with sometimes conflicting goals of social equality and environmental protection.
The revival of the concept of a Xiaokang Society was in part a criticism of social trends in mainland China in the 1990s under Jiang Zemin, in which many in China felt was focusing too much on the newly rich and not enough on mainland China's rural poor. Furthermore, there has been a fear in some circles that Chinese society has become too materialistic placing material wealth above all other social needs.
In contrast to previous concepts such as the spiritual civilization and the campaigns against bourgeois liberalization in the 1980s, the concept of the Xiaokang society does not involve heroic self-sacrifice and does not place the material and the spiritual in opposition. The vision of a Xiaokang society sees the need for economic growth to provide prosperity, but it sees the need for this prosperity to be broadly distributed.
In addition, the concept of a Xiaokang society is the first time in which the Communist Party of China has used a classical Chinese concept to legitimize its vision for the future of China. Its recent use has been associated with Hu Jintao and Wen Jiabao as a goal for mainland China to reach by the year 2020.
Xiaokang is also a name for a semi-monthly magazine that is affiliated to the Qiushi Magazine, the party-run magazine in Beijing. Started in 2004, it mainly focuses on the political and economic development in China. Referring to itself as "Insight China", Xiaokang defines itself as a magazine that voices public opinions and discuss the current affairs regarding the Chinese Politics and social cultures.
At the meeting celebrating the 100th anniversary of the founding of the Communist Party of China , Xi Jinping declared, “We have achieved the first century-old goal and built a moderately prosperous society in all respects on the land of China”. Thus the goal of a Moderately Prosperous Society has been met. [6]
See also
References
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- ↑ "China's Xi Jinping unveils new 'four comprehensives' slogans" ([1]) BBC 25 February 2015
- ↑ In a large developing country with a population of more than 1.2 billion, people's lives have generally reached a moderately prosperous level. In the new century, we will build a well-off society in an all-round way on this basis. What does it look like to be well-off in an all-round way—Interview with He Keng, deputy director of the National Bureau of Statistics.
- ↑ Xi Jinping solemnly declared: build a moderately prosperous society in all respects! - Chinanews