The Slow-paced Development of the Middle Stratum in China: Reason Analysis and Solution

The comparison study of economic development levels and social structures reveals that the development of China’s middle stratum is apparently lagging. Currently, China’s GDP per capita is almost equivalent to that of developed economies like Europe and the USA in the middle and late 1970s, when they became middle-stratum-dominated societies. However, China’s middle stratum is still underdeveloped in scale and proportion. Reasons for this are the Chinese household share of wealth distribution is low and wealth polarization is sharp. The solution to this problem is to build a fair environment for wealth creation, let enterprises and government give away part of their income to residents, and increase residents’ income. In the short run, China should make plans to increase incomes and develop plans aimed at key groups in a bid to increase the Chinese middle stratum in scale and proportion. Education resources must also be equally distributed, and the under-stratum must be helped to move up the social ladder