Goal of income rise nearer on consumption
BEIJING — Despite rising housing prices, Han Jianhua, an assistant director of a furniture company in East China’s Fuzhou City, is confident of being able to buy a home in the near future.
“A bicycle was all I owned when I started working five years ago. Now I drive my own car to work. My next plan is to buy an apartment and settle in the city,” he said.
Han’s monthly pay was about 3,000 yuan ($440) when he started as an ordinary employee. Thanks to multiple promotions, his income has doubled.
“Including my wife’s salary, we believe it won’t be a problem to buy a home after some time,” he said.
The 18th National Congress of the Communist Party of China in 2012 proposed to increase people’s income and boost their “sense of gain”.
A series of measures have been implemented over the past five years, making sure the country’s “centenary goal” of building a “moderately prosperous society in all respects” will be realized by 2020.
In addition to continuous job creation in both urban and rural areas, the central government has worked with local authorities to raise standards for pensions, minimum wages and social welfare in recent years.
According to the National Bureau of Statistics, the per capita disposable income of the country was 23,821 yuan in 2016, up 44.3 percent compared with the 2012 figure, and an actual increase of 33.3 percent after adjusting for inflation.
In the meantime, the income gap between urban and rural residents is also narrowing. Statistics show that the per capita disposable income of rural residents was 12,363 yuan last year, up 36.3 percent over 2012.
Zhang Yan, from Taiping town of Changchun, capital of Jilin province, never thought he could step away from farm work and spend weeks traveling around the country each year.
“I make tens of thousands of yuan from farming and machinery rentals each year,” he said. “We no longer need to worry about food. We now want to see more of the world.”
Higher incomes have changed consumption in China.
Per capita consumption in the country was 17,111 yuan in 2016, up 33.1 percent from 2012. Average per capita consumption in cultural, educational and entertainment activities registered an annual increase of 9.1 percent between 2012 and 2016.
Since the 18th CPC national congress, poverty eradication has been a priority for officials at all levels. Targeted poverty alleviation has transformed the lives of tens of millions of Chinese people below the poverty line.
According to official data, there were 98.99 million impoverished rural people in 2012. By the end of 2016, the figure was reduced to 43.35 million. About 14 million people shook off poverty each year on average.
The 18th CPC national congress set a goal for rural and urban residents’ per capita incomes to double by 2020 compared with 2010. Official data showed that by 2016, the per capita disposable income of the country registered an actual increase of 62.6 percent over the 2010 level.
A promising employment situation and economic development have provided powerful support for the rapid growth of incomes in China.