World Watch: China's growing rich-poor gap
The Study Times report said the rich population includes private business owners who have benefited from economic liberalization, but it also said many of the newly rich profited from "money and power" collusion involving officials in government and state-owned enterprises. It was striking that the authorities so publicly acknowledge the role of insider dealing and corruption in generating some of the new wealth most apparent in big cities such as Shanghai. Among the corruption-prone activities: the booming business of real-estate development and a sell-off of assets of state-owned companies.
The government has begun to take further steps to address the rich-poor divide: It is considering raising the level of income excluded from income tax and directing a greater share of government spending to rural and less developed western parts of the country. The public discussion of the income gap may be part of the jockeying ahead of economic decisions being made at next month's meeting by Communist Party leaders on the next five-year economic plan.
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