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People’s well-being is a central issue for development

Author  :       Source  :    Chinese Social Sciences Today     2013-12-04

The world looks at the new era that begins in China with more interest than ever. At the current moment, the concept of "development" is not the same as it was twenty or thirty years ago. Development strategies can no longer be directed solely by the idea of economic growth. That goal should be maintained, but now linked to a development much more focused on humans and their living conditions. The decisions of the 18th Party Congress strongly address this challenge, but China has now arrived at the complex task of undertaking it.

Without a doubt, men and women in China are much better off today than in the past. The middle class has expanded (to about 350 million people, although the method of measurement is still in discussion) and will reach 600 million by 2020. But the fact that people today live better than their parents and grandparents will not deter them from making demands of their government and authorities, like more security and better quality of life.

In Latin America, where the macroeconomic figures show good results, there is a word that marks the political and social future of the region: inequality. From reading the discussions and conclusions of the 18thth Party Congress, it appears that this is also a central concern for China today and for the coming decade.

Of all the issues that modernity has brought to the contemporary world, pollution has become a major point. The development of a "green economy"—already put in practice in several projects in China—will be a key issue in the new stage of China, which is guided by governmental strategy to create an "ecological civilization." This strategy will also have consequences in the technology and production conditions of Chinese agriculture.

On these and other issues—issues that define the difference between growth and development in the 21st century—China and Latin America have many topics on which to cooperate and discuss.

Editor: Du Mei

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