Asset opportunity for the poor: an asset-based policy agenda towards inclusive growth in China

Abstract

The concept of inclusive growth recently embraced by the Chinese government marks a new way of thinking about social policy and development. The primary goal of inclusive growth is to ensure that all people, especially the poorest, have an equal opportunity to participate in, and benefit from, the country's economic growth. In accordance with the new orientation of development strategies, there has been a paradigm shift in social policy from conventional income maintenance to promotion of the poor's asset accumulation and long-term development. Given China's striking social and economic inequalities, this article argues that an asset-based social policy is a key strategy in the strengthening of inclusive growth. The article highlights several areas of the welfare system where asset-based policies could be developed or expanded.

中国政府近年来所倡导的包容性增长体现了一种对经济发展和社会政策的新的思路。包容性增长的核心目标是确保所有人，特别是最贫困人群获得参与经济发展、共享发展成果的平等机会。立足于中国当前的经济与社会背景，本文提出资产为本的社会政策可以成为促进实现包容性增长的一个重要策略。通过对资产不平等的分析，本文着重探讨了几个社会福利政策领域内资产社会政策的可能发展方向。

Keywords:

• inclusive growth
• asset-based social policy
• asset opportunities
• development

Keywords:

• 包容性增长
• 资产为本的社会政策
• 资产机会
• 发展

Notes

1. Noted in both ‘Analysts: Inclusive growth key to China's future development’ (2010)and ‘Inclusive growth, a development perspective in China’ (2010).

2. Noted in ‘China passes Japan in Q2 as 2nd largest economy’ (2010).

3. The wealth distribution data cited in Table 1 and Table 2 are derived from the China Household Income Project (CHIP), a national cross-sectional survey conducted by the Institute of Economics, China Academy of Social Sciences (CASS) (as quoted in Li et al. 2008). The CHIP study is considered the best publicly available data source on China's household income, assets and expenditure (Gao and Riskin 2009). The most recent available data are from the 2002 study. The 2007 dataset will be released to the public in the near future.