China will take solid steps to promote common prosperity as part of the country's larger drive to improve well-being and deal with imbalances in development, the country's top economic regulator said on Feb 17.
Chang Tiewei, deputy director of the Department of Employment, Income Distribution and Consumption at the National Development and Reform Commission, said it is speeding up the formulation of an action plan to promote common prosperity.
Chang told a news conference in Beijing that the plan will mainly focus on narrowing gaps between different regions, between urban and rural areas as well as the rich and the poor.
The plan will help build a basic system for primary distribution, redistribution as well as tertiary distribution. Tertiary distribution mainly involves high-income groups extending assistance to low-income groups through donations and charity.
Under the plan, the country will take further steps to meet the needs of rural areas, primary organizations, underdeveloped areas and disadvantaged groups.
Chang said the government is also studying a new plan to expand the middle-income group amid the ongoing efforts to promote common prosperity, which is in line with the requirement of the 14th Five-Year Plan (2021-25).
Ha Zengyou, director of the Department of Employment, Income Distribution and Consumption at the NDRC, said localities should make a big push to implement primary and inclusive projects that facilitate people's well-being and guarantee their basic needs.
More efforts should also be made to improve basic public services, especially in the fields of education, healthcare, elder care and housing.
During the news conference, Chen Zhong, deputy director of the Zhejiang Provincial Human Resources and Social Security Department, highlighted the importance of creating jobs and attracting talent.
Noting that more than 10 million students will graduate from colleges and universities in China this year, Chen said the province will make every effort to seize the opportunity to attract more graduates.
Chen said the province has fully lifted its household registration permit system, or hukou system, by granting new graduates the permits. However, the Hangzhou downtown area still has restrictions to apply for a hukou.
In Zhejiang, college students will be able to borrow up to 500,000 yuan ($79,000) to start a business, and if the business fails, the government will help repay at least 80 percent of the loan, Chen said.
In June, China issued a guideline on building the eastern province of Zhejiang into a demonstration zone for achieving common prosperity. Under the guideline, the province will strive to achieve common prosperity by 2035, with its per capita GDP and the income of urban and rural residents reaching the standard of developed countries.
Citing the requirement mapped out by the guideline, Xie Xiaobo, deputy director of the Zhejiang Provincial Development and Reform Commission, said building a pilot area for the reform of the income distribution system will be a key task for building the province into a demonstration zone for common prosperity.
Xie said the province will release a new action plan to expand the middle-income group and increase the income of low-income people.
By 2025, the households with annual disposable income between 100,000 yuan and 500,000 yuan will account for 80 percent of all households. And 45 percent of the households in the province will have an annual disposable income between 200,000 yuan and 600,000 yuan, according to the plan.
