Equal access to growth fruits

Measures should be taken to further eradicate poverty, narrow the income gap and broaden the social security network

China has managed to sustain high-speed economic growth since reform and opening-up and made noteworthy achievements in eradicating poverty and improving people's livelihoods.

However, due to the existence of some systematic imperfections in the country's transition from a planned economy to a market economy, improvements in people's livelihoods have failed to keep pace with the country's national economic growth and income disparities have kept widening, especially since the mid-1990s. In some regions, developing the economy has even involved the sacrifice of local people's livelihoods. All these problems, if unresolved, will likely affect social stability and will pose a major challenge to the government efforts to guarantee and improve people's livelihoods and promote social harmony.