China Keeps on Changing - Getting Rich in Modern China

by fulltimestudent 8 Replies latest social current

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  fulltimestudent

  I'm sure that most have heard the story of Deng Xiaoping, who became Chairman of China after the death of Mao Zedong. During the Cultural Revolution Deng had been imprisoned, accused of being a 'capitalist-roader' (i.e. someone who favoured capitalism), during the long struggle to work out what sort of economic system would suit the new China. Mao's idea was doctrinnaire communism, with the state owning all means of production on behalf of all the people. Problem was something got lost somewhere between the theory and practise. It worked to a point, but not beyond that point. As we can note, the only more or less 'communist' state in the world today is North Korea, hardly an example of progress and wealth.

  But how to make the transition from a socialist state (As China was under Mao) with pulbic ownership to a mixed system (more akin to Scandanavia, or say Singapore). Shortly after becoming leader, Deng made a trip to south China, and famously said, "To get rich is glorious," thus suggesting that individual wealth was OK. He also dismissed the role of correct political theory in his saying, 'It does not matter whether a cat is black or white, so long as it catches mice."

  But the journey from that point, a time when it could be said, that everyone in China was equal - that is, equally poor, to the present time when millionaires seem to be bursting out of the seams, has been a long one. This China Central TV presentation tells part of the story of how private ownership of a business came to be part of law again in China.

  http://cctv.cntv.cn/lm/chinainsight/01/index.shtml
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  fulltimestudent

  I attended a lecture last week, by Professor Jonathon Unger who specialises in changing social conditions in China. The background is that in an attempt to re-organise Chinese agriculture from the very small traditional village farms, Mao Zedong forced villages to combine into collectives so that broad acre farming could be developed. It did not always work well, but by strange co-incidence on what was then the outskirts of cities, it has delivered untold wealth to these peasant farmers.

  The talk was delivered under the auspices or the Universit of Technology, Sydney's China Research Centre, and the topic was:

  The Guangdong Model: Collective Village Land, Urbanization, and the Making of a New Middle Class

  In Guangdong Province and some other important regions of China, rural communities often have retained ownership of much of their land when it gets converted into urban neighborhoods or industrial zones. In these areas, the rural collectives, rather than disappearing, are able to convert themselves into property companies, and are strengthened both economically and politically as rental income pours into their coffers. The native residents share in the profits and live in middle-class comfort on their dividends and rents. The collective retention of land is found in a vast number of industrializing villages in the Pearl River Delta region, containing many millions of native residents, and also in hundreds of former villages that today lie within urban Guangzhou and Shenzhen. How this operates-and the major economic, social and political ramifications-are examined through on-site research in four communities: an industrialized village near the edge of the Pearl River delta; an urban neighbourhood in Shenzhen with its own subway station, whose land is still owned and administered by rural collectives; and two villages-in-the-city (chengzhongcun) in Guangzhou's new downtown districts, where fancy housing estates and high-rise office blocks owned by village collectives are springing up alongside newly rebuilt village temples and lineage halls.

  BIOGRAPHY

  Jonathan Unger, a sociologist, is a Professor in the Australian National University's Political & Social Change Department and heads the ANU's Contemporary China Centre. He has published more than a dozen books about China. He co-edited The China Journal (with UTS' Professor Anita Chan) for 18 years from 1987 through 2005.

  His bio. is at: https://researchers.anu.edu.au/researchers/unger-jm

  The substance of the talk was as outlined, but Unger made the point that with so much wealth pouring into their bank accounts, many of these former poor farmers have become millionaires. All, the land is rented out on leasehold, so the former village, now absorbed into metropolitan areas, retain ownership. New apartment buildings have been built for their homes. They have organised some of the best medical services in China, and the best schools for their children. Older peasants likely had poor education, but their kids have become professionals in many fields.

  If there is a communist heaven, and old Mao is looking down, I wonder what he thinks of the capitalist paradise that China is becoming?
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  fulltimestudent

  Some images of modern Guangzhou:

  

  The above photograph shows a huge tower recently built, the following image shows the same tower in the evening, juxtaposed against an ancient Pagoda.

  

  

  

  And, this was the past- rapidly disappearing into history>

  

  You can see the French Cathedral in Old Canton, which dates back to 1863-88. At a time when Western imperialism rode rough-shod over China, the church was built on the site of a Chinese temple, demolished over the objections of the Chinese citizens, an action which contributed to the anger of the Boxer rebellion.
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  Satanus

  Interesting how some peasant villages form business cooperatives and do really well. Its a variation on individualism.

  S
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  fulltimestudent

  Satanus, according to the lecture i attended, the villagers have generally made decisions to retain their 'collective' organisation. I.m not sure how it plays out from an individualistic viewpoint.

  Of course, those villages that are subsumed by growning cities are the lucky ones. There are other villages who are fated to disappear, as I'll illustrate in this post.

  Back about January, China apparently passed the half-way mark in its planned urbanisation. In 1949, when the Communist Party came to power (and note, it is no longer a Communist party) the urban population was under 11% of the total population. Now, the urban population is just about 52% out of a total population of 1.35 billion. It is believed (According to the Chinese government) that the population is close to stabilising and will soon start to decline. That will bring another set of difficulties with a growing aged segment. However, there still seems a way to go (to me) before all potential labour groups are fully utilised.

  The consulting company, McKinsey, forecaste recently that Chinawould have one billion urban residents by 2030 -- its urban population growing by more than that of the entire US in just two decades. Amazing figures! In the last 30 years, China has roughly matched what economists say took about 200 years in Britain, 100 years in the US and 50 years in Japan.

  Its not only China, of course, but all of Asia. There are now more, many more, well-to-do people in Asia, than the total (including the so-called poor) populations of Europe and USA, added together.

  But in China, you can still find some in these circumstances: This report was published a few days ago in the Chinese Global Times, web/English Edition.

  Since there is now an elemental social services program in China, I believe that most villages in this circumstance will simply disappear.

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  Web-Link: http://www.globaltimes.cn/content/781542.shtml#.UZWA9bUwcwA

  A Village of two People

  Global Times | 2013-5-14 19:23:01 By Global Times

  

  Yan Weicheng herds sheep on a hill near his home in Tianhu village, Fujian Province on May 9. Photo: CFP

  

  Yan Weicheng and his son eat a meal on May 9. Photo: CFP

  

  Yan Weicheng and his son stand in front of their dilapidated home. Photo: CFP

  

  A run-down wall in Tianhu village. Photo: CFP

  It takes about two hours driving on a bumpy road from Fuzhou, capital of Fujian Province, to get to Tianhu village.
  
  The village is under Dahu township, Minhou county, and is five kilometers away from the ancient Xuefeng Temple. People moved in and formed a village about 300 years ago, but now it is virtually a ghost town.
  
  There are now only two people in the village: Yan Weicheng, 55, and his 20-year-old son Yan Xian, along with about 40 sheep and 10 chickens.
  
  Yan Xian is mentally handicapped. He has never attended school, and cannot speak properly. His mother abandoned him when he was just a month old.
  
  "My wife took a sickle in her hand and said she was going to the city to work, but has never come back," said Yan Weicheng.
  
  "There used to be over 20 families, almost 300 people in the village 15 years ago, but they all moved to another village because the transportation here is really bad," said Yan, adding that he has no choice but to stay and take care of his son.
  
  Their income comes from selling the sheep and chickens they've raised. "We only sold two sheep last year. It's too rainy, and that's why the survival rate of the sheep is very low," lamented Yan.
  
  They earned just over 2,000 yuan ($325) from the two sheep last year, which is enough to support them for a whole year.
  
  Yan is very concerned that one day he will become too old to work, and no one will take care of his son.
  
  The house they're living in is a shabby contraption of several crooked wooden rooms, with most of the roofs in poor repair and decaying beams that could fall at any time.
  
  "This is not our house. Ours was flattened by typhoon over a decade ago," said Yan.
  
  Similar cases are also seen in Sichuan, Hebei and Zhejiang provinces. All the villages share something in common. They are located in mountainous areas, and other villagers have all left because of the lack of transportation.
  
  In early 2012, after their neighbor went to Guangzhou to live with his son, Tang Mingxiao and his wife Li Shifen became the only two left in their village in Daxian county of Sichuan Province.
  
  The village used to be home to 140 people in its heyday.
  
  In Fangkeng village under Wuyi county of Zhejiang Province, Chen Qunliang and his wife are the only villagers there after his father moved out.
  
  Chen earned 80,000 yuan last year by keeping bees. He also raised over 100 goats and 10 cattle, which brought his total income to over 100,000 yuan.
  
  They are satisfied with their life here even though the other villagers have left. There is no cell phone or TV signal in the village, according to local media in Zhejiang Province.
  
  Chen's case is rare, as their living conditions are far better than those of others left behind in mountainous villages.
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  Satanus

  Interesting.

  S
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  Satanus

  Under mao, individualism was strongly discoursged. Groupthink, or rather partythink was THE thing. The way some villagers form virtual corps of their towns is a kind of capitalist groupthink, of their small group. Its a contrtast from the hyperindividualism that is encouraged in north america.

  S
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  fulltimestudent

  The Economist put together this neat short video on Chinese factory labour. However, I suggest its very difficult to express anything about China in simple generalised terms. But, watch the video first (the first few seconds are an advert for GE):

  http://econ.st/10SXcr9

  Now consider this. Five years ago, the Asia Times (with H.O. in Bangkok) reported that factories making cheap products (clothing and shoes) were being told by the provincial government that their leases would not be renewed and they should move somewhere else. Some moved west to poorer Chinese areas, some went to Vietnam, some to south Asia. That was the start of an effort to transform Chinese manufacturing from cheap products and assembly work to higher levels of manufacturing, a move that seems to be working. Sydney's recent purchase of new trains saw the carriage carcasses made in China, with wiring etc completed in Australia. As I've posted elsewhere, the motor vehicle industry will soon be making 20,000,000 vehicles a year - mostly for the Chinese market. However, Chinese car makers are gaining experience in most world markets and I doubt that it will be very long before they become a major competitor in most world markets.
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  5go

  I find it funny that in China there is a underground movement of youths that want to go back to the old ways under Chairman Mao and get rid of capitalism (mainly the rich who have benefitted at the cost of the poor) it's even started a fashion movement. Ironic for a communist country to have a second communist revolution in the making.