Urban Needy -- New Concern of Chinese Government

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Last updated at: (Beijing Time) Monday, March 11, 2002

Urban Needy -- New Concern of Chinese Government

The total number of the urban needy in China, reportedly about 30 million, coincides with that of the remaining poor population in rural areas. The urban needy mainly refers to the laid-off workers and the jobless. An increasing impoverished urban population might pose a more serious potential threat to social stability, a more thorny issue that calls for more painstaking efforts to deal with properly.

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Urban needy---remaining poor population in rural areas

When the Chinese government declared a success in reducing the impoverished population in its vast rural areas from 250 million in the late 1970s to the present 30 million, another challenge is cropping up -- the urban needy.

The issue has drawn unprecedented concern from among participants in the annual sessions of the National People's Congress (NPC), China's legislature, and the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC), the country's top advisory body.

The total number of the urban needy in China, reportedly about 30 million, coincides with that of the remaining poor population in rural areas. The impoverished rural population refers to those whose annual per capita income is below 500 yuan (60 U.S. dollars), while the urban needy mainly refers to the laid-off workers and the jobless.

Potential threat to social stability

Statistics show that the urban needy accounts for 7-10 percent of the total urban population, while the remaining poor population in rural areas accounts for about three percent of the total rural residents.

More importantly, observers noted, an increasing impoverished urban population might pose a more serious potential threat to social stability, a more thorny issue that calls for more painstaking efforts to deal with properly.

A heavy-hearted Wang Daming, CPPCC member from Beijing, said that needy urban families have "three worries" -- falling ill, children dropping out from school, and celebrating festivals, among others. Some families have to spend the night in darkness only because they cannot afford electricity supply.

Anti-poverty campaign

It's just in good time that the Chinese government has turned to the urban needy while continuing its anti-poverty campaign in rural areas.

"The government will improve the unemployment insurance system, and at the same time, strengthen the system of minimum cost of living for urban residents, so that all eligible poor urban residents will have their essential needs met", Premier Zhu Rongji pledged in his report to the NPC opening session.

Finance Minister Xiang Huaicheng echoed Zhu's promise by a much more detailed account of the arrangements in his budget report. He said that in 2002, a total of 86 billion yuan (more than one billion U.S. dollars) for social security programs will be earmarked in the central budget, up 28 percent from last year.

To solve the problem of basic living allowances for the urban needy, the government has decided to increase subsidies from the central budget to their minimum cost of living from 2.3 billion yuan (277 million U.S. dollars) in 2001 to 4.6 billion yuan (554 million U.S. dollars) in 2002.

Furthermore, a total of 51.2 billion yuan (6.17 billion U.S. dollars) from the central budget will be allocated to subsidize pensions for retirees of state-owned enterprises and living allowances of their laid-off workers in 2002.

The input is also unprecedented. In fact, the number of the urban needy covered by the system of minimum cost of living grew from more than four million in early 2001 to over 11.2 million at the end of the year. Expenditure from the central government on social security programs in 2001 was 5.18 times the figure for 1998.

Existing pressure

However, pressure is still mounting. Statistics show that by the end of 2001, more than five million laid-off workers of state- owned enterprises failed to find new jobs, and that registered jobless people in urban areas amounted to 6.81 million. More unemployment is expected with China's entry into the World Trade Organization. And approximately 100 million of migrant rural laborers seeking job opportunities in cities further aggravate the situation.

In addition to the central government's effort, local governments and all walks of life are lending a hand. Beijing, for example, has mobilized social forces to help improve the living standards of 1,000 families singled out from among poor urbanites in 2002.

NPC deputy Chen Shikun, a doctor from Hebei Province in central China, said that every citizen is entitled to medical services, but many of the urban needy are frightened away by high charges. He suggested public welfare hospitals be set up to provide affordable and quality services to the poor.

Already, the Commercial Workers' Hospital in Wuhan, provincial capital of Hubei, has initiated the practice by cutting its medical charges by a big margin. In this hospital, a baby delivery only costs some 800 yuan (96 U.S. dollars), compared with 2,000 to 3,000 yuan (241 to 361 U.S. dollars) elsewhere.

But more NPC deputies and CPPCC members choose to resolve the problem once for all through law-making. They called for the enactment of laws on social insurance, social aid and social welfare to cover all the urban needy.

CPC Leaders Call for Efforts to Help People in Need

Addressing a meeting on reducing poverty and helping the needy on February 4, Jiang Zemin, general secretary of the CPC Central Committee, called on leading officials at all levels to do more for people in need, to consolidate the Party's leading position, promote social and economic development and safeguard social stability.

Not An Easy Task: 30m People in Poverty

There are 30m people still living in poverty in rural China and a significant number of laid-off workers from State-owned firms in urban China despite China's rapid economic growth, rising standard of living and its marked progress in the anti-poverty campaign of the past decade.

Main Contents of the Requests

1,Governments at all levels should carry out all the policies and measures designed to help poor people in both rural and urban areas.

2,Party committees and governments at all levels should take all necessary measures to ensure the impoverished in China have a happy lunar Chinese New Year.

3,All sectors of society should participate in anti-poverty activities.

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