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Bridging income gap vital

(China Daily)
Updated: 2010-03-10 09:25
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Fair and reasonable distribution of national wealth is crucial to building a harmonious society, says an article in Xinhua. Excerpts:

This is the first time that the government work report has proposed in such clear, detailed, practical and pertinent terms the requirements and targets for reforming income distribution. A fair distribution mechanism is not only conducive to balancing equity and efficiency, but also the key to building a harmonious society.

Income gap is not new to economic growth. But it has to be controlled within a certain range with regulatory legislation. A government-led program to raise the income of the public, especially blue-collar workers is urgently needed in order to boost the percentage of people's income in GDP, which has fallen to its lowest level of 43 percent.

Vocational income gap should be narrowed by cutting the profit margins of monopoly industries and raising the wages of workers in traditional sectors such as manufacturing, and small- and medium-sized enterprises.

Regulating the distribution order, as Premier Wen Jiabao said in the government work report, involves disclosing of income and penalizing people making money illegally. If an open, fair and regulated income distribution system can be established with social and legal supervision, bridging the income gap would not be such a difficult project.