Inside the Modern Dragon
China: A 21st Century Engine of Change
China Hums a New Tune
- Introduction
- Side box
- Stong but Tenuous Growth
- Origins of Harmony
- Growth, Poverty & Development
- Endnotes (Sources)
Related links & articles
China's Communist Party amended its constitution in Oct. 21, 2007 to instruct the government to build a "harmonious society."
“China Hums a New Tune: the
Quest for a Harmonious Society”
By Patti Mohr©
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In October 2007, China’s ruling class amended the Communist Party
Constitution to promise to create a new, scientific development model
for its economy. The overriding goal was to create a “harmonious
society” – an estimable yet indistinct ideal form of social
order.
Since that constitutional revision, the Chinese people have explored many
different ways to reach the goal. China has increased federal spending
on social security and education and health care services, opened up some
avenues for democratic expression, amended labor laws to initiate workers’
rights, and experimented with ways to adjust its export-based growth model
to balance industrialization with the environmental and societal concerns.
"The key question for China watchers is: Does ‘harmony’ mean a retreat from China’s integration with the global economy or the sustainability of it?"
In short, China’s top policy makers have searched for ways to transform its economic and social structure into something new. They realized then, as they do now, that to sustain growth they need deeper and broader public support for economic integration with the world at large. To date, the benefits of growth have been great. Yet China’s development remains susceptible to internal fault lines that threaten to disrupt its course for becoming a global power.
Despite its many new initiatives, Chinese policymakers have not yet found the way forward. The search for a sustainable growth plan based on harmony and scientific development continues. As it does, the constitutional promise for a “harmonious society” remains undefined in terms of both philosophy and policy. It appears that while the intent is to create a new ideological framework for development, Chinese politicians have yet to define the structure.
Facts & Figures
China's GINI Index (Measure of Inequality): 46.9
Source: Human Development Report, 2007/2008
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