"Development with Equity"

The China Human Development Report 2005 catalogues the imbalances in China’s current development and sets forth a set of policy recommendations to help China chart its path of “Development with Equity.” The issue of equity is essential to sustainable human development and indispensable to China’s Xiaokang goals. The report argues that inequity, if unaddressed, could penalize China’s economic development and undermine the extent and sustainability of future progress. To achieve inclusive and sustainable development, China needs to integrate proactive equity and pro-poor policies into future national macro-economic policy frameworks.

Inequity, the issue of primary concern in this report, is viewed as the inequality of basic rights and opportunities. In China, it surfaces as a nexus of selective disenfranchisement that includes institutionalized differences between regions, areas, and groups in terms of income, property ownership, employment opportunities and wages, education, health care, social security, and government fiscal expenditure.

Reasons behind such inequities are complex, with roots in history, past policies, and the still-less-than adequate markets. To address them, this report puts forth a set of policy suggestions for creating opportunities and fostering abilities, enhancing social security services to reduce vulnerability, and promoting empowerment and improving governance.

For more information NHDR China 2005 report, please visit the official NHDR China Website