Costs, food safety top list of worries
By Yang Jian |
December 20, 2011, Tuesday
|
Print Edition
Print Edition
RISING consumer costs, home prices and food safety are the top concerns of the Chinese public in 2011, according to reports released by the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences yesterday.
More than 70 percent of Chinese families think that soaring consumer prices most influence their living standards and exert the greatest pressure on them, the 2011 Chinese social condition report and the 2012 social blue book said.
About 60 percent of people from both urban and rural areas said that soaring prices that are outpacing pay raises is the country's biggest social problem.
The average living expense rose 11.1 percent annually for people living in cities and towns from 2006 to 2010, but the growth rate of their annual incomes are dropping every year, the reports said.
Expenditures for clothes rose 12.5 percent annually from 2006 while that for food increased by 10.5 percent, according to the reports.
The gap between rich and poor is widening in China. Rising prices will have little impact on rich people, but will greatly affect most people, who are sensitive to rising prices, said Li Wei, director of the academy's research and development office.
Consumer inflation was also the top concern of Chinese families in the 2007, 2008 and 2010 surveys.
Rocketing housing prices became the second-biggest concern, with more than 54 percent of people citing them as among the biggest problems. The expense for a house is far beyond the expectations of most families, and about 85 percent of Chinese said they cannot afford to buy a home.
The third-biggest concern is food and drug safety. Food safety has long caused worry in China, especially after the melamine scandal in 2008, which killed at least six children and sickened about 300,000 others.
Other big concerns for the Chinese public include the widening gap between the rich and the poor and the corruption of government officials, the report said.
More than 70 percent of Chinese families think that soaring consumer prices most influence their living standards and exert the greatest pressure on them, the 2011 Chinese social condition report and the 2012 social blue book said.
About 60 percent of people from both urban and rural areas said that soaring prices that are outpacing pay raises is the country's biggest social problem.
The average living expense rose 11.1 percent annually for people living in cities and towns from 2006 to 2010, but the growth rate of their annual incomes are dropping every year, the reports said.
Expenditures for clothes rose 12.5 percent annually from 2006 while that for food increased by 10.5 percent, according to the reports.
The gap between rich and poor is widening in China. Rising prices will have little impact on rich people, but will greatly affect most people, who are sensitive to rising prices, said Li Wei, director of the academy's research and development office.
Consumer inflation was also the top concern of Chinese families in the 2007, 2008 and 2010 surveys.
Rocketing housing prices became the second-biggest concern, with more than 54 percent of people citing them as among the biggest problems. The expense for a house is far beyond the expectations of most families, and about 85 percent of Chinese said they cannot afford to buy a home.
The third-biggest concern is food and drug safety. Food safety has long caused worry in China, especially after the melamine scandal in 2008, which killed at least six children and sickened about 300,000 others.
Other big concerns for the Chinese public include the widening gap between the rich and the poor and the corruption of government officials, the report said.
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