Countermeasures To Narrow The Income Gap Between The Urban And Rural Residents In Hebei Province

Thirty years after the Chinese economic reform and opening up, the Chineseeconomy thrives. The GDP increases from the364.5billion Yuan in1978to the39.7983trillion Yuan in2010. Not just the total economy arises significantly, so does the GNI percapital, which increases from the190USD in1978to the4,400USD in2010. In total,there is a substantial increase in the income and the living standard of Chinese Residents,however, there is a expanding income gap between urban and rural residents. TakingHebei Province as an example, the ratio of the income of urban residents to that of ruralresidents increases from2.53in2003to3.04in2009and the actual income gap reachesto the historical10,525.8Yuan. If the trend in the expanding income gap could not beefficiently contained, the potential political and social instabilities will increase and it isunavoidable that this trend will cause some residents’ grievance and the unrest in Chinesesociety, which is against the integrated development and is opposite to the proposal tobuild a harmonious society. Hence, studying the issue of income gap between urban andrural residents is significantly important and urgent. This article will focus on thediscussion about the income gap between urban and rural residents in Hebei Province.Based on the Marxism Theory of Income Distribution and other factors in therelevant western theories, this article discusses the income gap between urban and ruralresidents in China and in Hebei Province.The first part, this article discusses the background and the meaning of this subject,the relevant theories about income distribution and the domestic and internationalresearches. Through a series of data, the urgency of the issue of the income gap is clearlyshowed. The discussion of the relevant theories is the theoretical basis of this article.The second part, the article lists and analyzes the data of Hebei Province, proving theexistence and revealing the traits of the income gap in Hebei Province, which isestablished by the following facts. The income of Residents of Hebei Province is lowerthan the national average income. The income and consumption of urban residents areclearly higher than those of rural residents. Compared with rural residents, urban residentsenjoys better human resource and social security system.The Third part, this article analyzes the causes of the existence and the expansion ofthe income gap from both the Macroscopic perspective and the Microcosmic perspective, pointing out the general causes and the special causes of the expansion of the income gapin Hebei province. The special causes include the inadequate investment in agriculture, theirrational structure of the land operation, and the civilized degree of farmers.The Fourth part, some suggestions to narrow the income gap of urban and ruralresidents in Hebei Province countermeasures from four levels of government, agriculture,farmers, and special areas. It includes the reformation of the urban-rural binary developingsystem, the improvement of the income distribution, the further expansion of agricultureinvestment and industrialized operation, and the improvement of the civilized degree offarmers,local conditions and so on. Balancing the income differences between urban andrural residents not only shows the social justice, also becomes a driving forces tocontribute China’s prosperity and to achieve the goal of building a harmonious society.