Spare common people pains of reform

• Source: Global Times
• [02:35 March 04 2010]
• Comments

The high public expectations over the "two sessions" this year are understandable.

Polls, Internet chatrooms, and newspaper editorials have fully conveyed the public mood: That people are yearning for solutions to pressing issues such as income inequality and unaffordable housing.

Resolving these issues requires structural economic adjustment, but each step forward would be painful to a certain section of the population. The challenge for the government is to make sure that ordinary people do not continue to be victims of reform.

Reform means pain for some. The past decades of reform – from slashing State-owned enterprises to deregulating financial institutions – did achieve progress in China. But, it also broke the long-held sense of equality and social security.

In the process of reform, the ordinary people are made to bear the brunt of the pain: low income, high cost of living and no proper social welfare network.

They have to breathe the polluted air while they continue to sweat for the Chinese economic miracle. To ordinary laborers like miners, the higher the GDP rises, the greater their pain.

The reform has to keep going. The old growth mode is unsustainable and has displayed dangerously negative sides. The sweeping global financial crisis has clearly shown the limits to growth unless there is a fundamental change in the economic structure. For the reform to go ahead, the wealth it creates should benefit every citizen. Fast-changing life and the urban landscape should give people a sense of hope.

And, the government needs to keep social justice and fairness.

While advancing economic transformation, the government has to work hard to cushion the pain of ordinary people. It would be more difficult than during earlier reform because now formidable interest groups, with their political power, can and will pass on the price they should pay to ordinary people.

The obstacles to healthcare reform, affordable housing schemes and education access have shown the power of interest groups and the restraint of the government.

It requires skilful political maneuvering by the government to balance the diverse interest groups.

The reform needs to keep the faith of the public who believe in a better future. If it brings ordinary people only pain, or even fear of tomorrow, the reform cannot go on.