China’s Class Structure: Changes, Problems, and Policy Suggestions—A Study of Class Development since 1978

ABSTRACT

Based on large statistical data and survey data, this article describes and analyzes the profound changes that have taken place in China’s class structure since the beginning of the reform and opening-up. These changes include the unprecedented expansion of the workers and the emergence of migrant workers as a new social force; the large-scale decrease of the peasant population with growing differentiation and aging trends; the professional technicians becoming the main body of the middle class; the private entrepreneur stratum attracting wide attention; and new social strata and social groups continuously being formed, and so on. This article also discusses some of the controversial issues concerning the class structure in contemporary China, points out the opportunities and challenges that this dramatic social change brings, and provides some policy suggestions for correctly handling current class and stratum relations.

KEYWORDS:

• Class and stratum
• social structure
• social changes
• reform and opening-up

Acknowledgements

This article is translated by Dr Peng Chengyi, Institute of World Economics and Politics, Chinese Academy of Social Sciences.

Disclosure Statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author.

Notes on Contributor

Li Peilin (following Chinese practice, the surname, Li, is placed first) is a professor of sociology, an academician, and the vice-president of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences. He earned his PhD at the University of Paris I (Pantheon-Sorbonne) in 1987. He has published many articles, books, and essay collections in Chinese, English and French on social stratification, social mobility and economic sociology. He is also chairing several large projects, including “Chinese Social Survey,” one of the largest and earliest national sociological surveys, since 2006.

Notes

1. The data cited in this article, unless noted otherwise, are all from the Statistical Yearbook of the National Bureau of Statistics of China. http://www.stats.gov.cn/tjsj/ndsj/.

2. “Mu” is the Chinese unit of land area, and 1 mu equals to 0.1647369 acre.

3. These survey data come from the “China Private Enterprise Survey” co-hosted by the United Front Work Department of CPC Central Committee, the All-China Federation of Industry and Commerce, the State Administration for Industry and Commerce, and the China Private Economy Research Association. The survey was carried out nationwide and the Research Center for Private Entrepreneurs of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences is responsible for updating this data. See Lv, Fan, and Sun (2017).

4. See, The Constitution of the People’s Republic of China. [In Chinese.] http://www.npc.gov.cn/npc/xinwen/2018-03/22/content_2052621.htm.

5. See, The Constitution of the Communist Party of China. [In Chinese.] http://www.qstheory.cn/llqikan/2017-12/03/c_1122049483.htm.