![]() |
| |||||
|
BIZCHINA / Weekly Roundup |
How Chinese bumblebee ignores economic lawsBy Khalid Malik (China Daily)Updated: 2007-07-04 15:45 The challenge now is no longer what to do but how to effectively make it happen. China is too large and too complex to manage easily. This makes the nation's competent leadership with its emphasis on capacity building especially impressive. But perhaps China needs to move to a phase where strengthening the rule of law and scientific development becomes much more important. As for the environmental challenges, China's leaders are clear that in order to sustain development, environmental reality needs to be part of economic policies and development. The Chinese reform shows the importance of alternative approaches, country-led approaches, homegrown approaches. Each country has to first do the difficult job itself and find out what works and what doesn't through internal discussion. A country can draw on international experience, but one experience cannot replace the other.
As for xiaokang, when people talk about health, education and many other things, it's clear the central government has to play a larger role on how budgets are transferred, on the way responsibility for healthcare is resolved. What is the role of the State in providing basic healthcare for all citizens? What is the role of the State in providing basic social security? These are the two essential expenses that people save for. New challenges require new policies which, in turn, require additional new institutional features. China is at the point where the time is right for a new, universal basic social security package. The debate in China seems to be moving very quickly. The whole question of rebalancing local, central and inter-provincial fiscal relationships is being addressed in a UN development program with the Ministry of Finance and the People's Bank of China. A major issue is how to make fiscal systems, which are currently pro-rich and pro-urban, more pro-poor and pro-people. China is working on removing the dichotomy between urban and rural systems. Perhaps it is time to start introducing human development targets. The UNDP has a program with the National Development and Reform Commission assessing xiaokang. It involves using a broader range of indicators to assess how the country is doing in moving forward. It's measuring not just economic growth but health, social development and the environment. Administrative structures probably need to be reorganized to raise efficiency and effectiveness, enhancing transparency and participation.
(For more biz stories, please visit Industry Updates)
|
|
Copyright 1995-2007. All rights reserved. The content (including but not limited to text, photo, multimedia information, etc) published in this site belongs to China Daily Information Co (CDIC). Without written authorization from CDIC, such content shall not be republished or used in any form. | ||
Note: Browsers with 1024*768 or higher resolution are suggested for this site. |
Registration Number: 20100000002731 | ![]() |