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Strategies & Market Trends : China Warehouse- More Than Crockery -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: RealMuLan who wrote (3393)	7/21/2004 10:28:26 AM
From: RealMuLan	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 6370

Thanks to Zhu Rongji's era--China Sees Increase in Dire Poverty Associated Press SHANGHAI, China - The number of Chinese surviving on less than 21 cents a day rose by 800,000 in 2003, the first increase in dire poverty since China began loosening state controls on the economy in the early 1980s, state media reported Tuesday. Natural disasters were a major reason behind the rise, the official Xinhua News Agency reported Liu Jian, director of the government's Poverty Alleviation and Development office, as saying. The government says 29 million people lack adequate food, clothing or shelter. That is less than 3 percent of China's 1.3 billion people. China's official poverty line is $77 per person a year, or 21 cents a day, far below the world's average annual rural income, which was $316 last year. In 1978, before China moved toward a market economy or allowed foreign investment, some 250 million people, or 30 percent of the population at the time, were classified as poor. Since then, many millions have benefited from China's swift economic growth and newly created jobs in the private sector. But progress in poverty alleviation has slowed in recent years as rural incomes lagged behind those in the cities, and millions once employed by state-run factories lost their jobs. Widespread drought and perennial flooding have added to the troubles of those scraping by in the underdeveloped countryside. While the vast majority of Chinese are far more affluent than they were 20 years ago, many lament the widening gap between rich and poor and the end of cradle-to-grave social welfare benefits that families once counted on for health care, housing and education. miami.com