Economic Growth, Income Distribution and Poverty Reduction in Contemporary China

China has experienced over a quarter century of rapid economic growth, which has a phenomenal impact on the global economy. Entering into the 21st century implies that China has begun a new phase of economic and social development. Vast improvement in people's living standards, however, has been coupled with two critical problems: inequality and poverty. The key question is not that people should be pessimistic about China's future growth and prosperity, but that people should consider which direction that China will go. Is it going to become one of the most un-egalitarian countries like Brazil and Mexico, or one of the most dynamic and relatively egalitarian economies like South Korea and Taiwan. This book reviews the economic development history of contemporary China from 1949 up to today, paying special attention to the interface among growth, inequality and poverty reduction. A real China economic miracle should have two important features: high income growth and a fair distribution system so that povertycan be eradicated.

China has experienced over a quarter century of rapid economic growth, which has had a phenomenal impact on the global economy. Entering into thetwenty-first century implies that China has begun a new phase of economic and social development.Yao reviews the economic development history of contemporary China from 1949 to the present, paying special attention to growth, inequality and poverty reduction. A real Chinese economic miracle should have two important features: high income growth and a fair distribution system so that poverty can be eradicated.

1. Introduction 2. Economic Performance in Contemporary China: An Overall Assessment 3. Agricultural and Rural Development 4. Openness and Economic Performance 5. Decomposition of Gini Coefficients by Population Class and Income Source: A Spreadsheet Approach and Application 6. Rural-Urban and Regional Inequality in Output, Income and Consumption under Reforms 7. Regional Inequality and Diverging Club 8. Understanding Income Inequality in China: A Multi-Angle Perspective 9. Further Study on Inequality and Poverty Reduction 10. Unemployment and Uurban Poverty 11. Is Migration a Way of Escaping Poverty in China?

Shujie Yao is chair of economics at the Middlesex University Business School. He was previously professor of economics at the University of Portsmouth and research fellow at the University of Oxford. He is author and co-author of five books and has published extensively in a great number of economics journals. He has worked in many less developed countries as international economic advisor to the World Bank, UNDP, European Union, Asian Development Bank and the Department for International Development (UK). He is an editorial member of Food Policy and co-editor of Journal of Chinese Economic and Business Studies. His current research is on economic growth, agricultural and rural development, income inequality and poverty.

This book reviews the economic development history of contemporary China from 1949 up to today, paying special attention to the interface among growth, inequality and poverty reduction. A real Chinese economic miracle should have two important features: high income growth and a fair distribution system so that poverty can be eradicated.