China's new priority: social wellbeing over growth

The Daily Star, AP, Gillian Wong, March 05, 2013

Chinese leaders walk to the venue for the opening meeting of the first session
 of the National People's Congress at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing,
Tuesday, March 5, 2013. (AP Photo/Xinhua, Lan Hongguang)

                              

BEIJING: China's government pledged Tuesday to repair the country's ravaged environment and boost public services under its new leadership, an acknowledgment that quality of life was sidelined during the outgoing administration's decade of breakneck economic growth.

In a policy speech opening the national legislature's yearly session, soon-to-retire Premier Wen Jiabao went through a list of problems that had built up in recent years and was being left to his successors: a sputtering growth model; poisoned air, waterways and soil; a vast and growing rich-poor gap; and rampant official corruption that has alienated many Chinese.

"Is this a time bomb?" Yao Jianfu, a retirement government researcher, asked. Yao's specialty is China's army of migrant workers who are often deprived of access to housing, education and other government services. "If there's an economic downturn and massive unemployment, will the 200 million migrant workers become the main force of the next Cultural Revolution?" he said, referring to the excesses of the chaotic 1966-76 period.

The unfinished agenda of China's past decade are now central concerns of the new leadership as it seeks to assuage a public that is looking beyond pocket-book issues, empowered by the Internet and increasingly vocal about the need for change.

Wen acknowledged the responsibility he and other retiring leaders have for leaving such a tangle of problems, even as they have guided China to prosperity and power on the world stage.

"Some of these problems have built up over time, while others have emerged in the course of economic and social development, and still others have been caused by inadequacies and weaknesses in our government work," Wen said in a 100-minute speech to the nearly 3,000 legislative deputies in the Great Hall of the People, his last address before stepping down.

Though Wen delivered the address, it represents the priorities of the new leadership headed by Communist Party chief Xi Jinping and it underscores the inflection point many Chinese feel the country has reached: The policies that delivered stunning growth are foundering in the ill-effects of corruption and environmental degradation, and many Chinese believe benefits unfairly accrue to a party-connected elite.

The legislative session completes the once-a-decade leadership transition that began four months ago when Xi and other younger leaders were installed as party leaders. The largely ceremonial legislature, known as the National People's Congress, will approve appointments to top government posts to manage the economic and foreign policies, rounding out the team Xi will need to govern.

In his first months in office, Xi has raised expectations for change, talking about the urgent need to stanch graft and adhere to laws rather than rule by untrammeled power.

The policy address and an accompanying budget presented Tuesday give a mixed picture of how different a course Xi intends to steer. Defense spending will increase 10.7 percent to 720 billion yuan ($114 billion) - a higher rate than the overall growth of the budget that comes as China engages in tense territorial disputes with neighbors and seeks to reduce U.S. influence in the region.

Spending on public security is getting an 8 percent boost to 769 billion yuan ($124 billion), making this the third year in a row that outlays for the police, courts and other law enforcement exceeds defense spending. This, despite public unhappiness over the enormous state security system that is used to repress threats to the party and runs roughshod over the legal system.

Wen called several times for a change in the country's growth model to reduce waste, build out the service sector as a source of much-needed employment and direct spending to subsidized housing and other social programs that would boost household consumption. On restoring the environment, Wen called for curbing pollution and reducing energy consumption.

In all cases, however, the address was short on specifics, especially on the sore-points of the environment and corruption, and that drew critical reviews.

"A report like this did not move me one bit," said Beijing-based historian Zhang Lifan. He called Wen's farewell address "comprehensive but mediocre."

The speech failed to address public calls for greater political freedom, which have swelled in the months since Xi took over as party chief. Academics and activists have signed various open letters and petitions on issues ranging from constitutional governance or an easing of censorship.

Raising the standard of living is "important to everyone ... but people want more freedom, they want less control, and I don't see a glimpse of political reform in" the report, said Jean-Pierre Cabestan, a China politics expert at the Hong Kong Baptist University.

Meanwhile, even a delegate to the top government advisory body, members of whom are usually coached to give only positive remarks about the annual work report, said what mattered was whether the objectives laid out in it were met in reality.

"The report itself of course is good, but the implementation needs to be solid and real, so it will not turn out to be a gust of wind," said Yu Wenliang, a Christian priest from Yunnan province.

Hundreds of soldiers, police and plainclothes security officer - equipped with fire extinguishers and anti-explosive blankets - ringed the Great Hall and the adjacent Tiananmen Square for the opening session. The public was kept well away behind cordons as the deputies gathered for the 13-day session.

The legislature, most of whose members belong to the party and are bound to vote as the leadership dictates, will approve a proposed streamlining of government ministries, as well as appointments. In reality, the decisions have already been made by Xi and party power-brokers behind closed doors.

Among the changes: Xi will be formally given the title of president, taking the last of the titles from his predecessor, Hu Jintao. The party's No. 2, Li Keqiang, will replace Wen as premier.

Leaders targeted a 7.5 percent economic growth rate for the coming year, which is the same as last year and lower than the 8 percent rate that dominated planning for decades. However, the figure is largely symbolic because in reality growth has typically been higher. Last year's growth was 7.8 percent and this year's is expected to be even higher.

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