Government to narrow income gap
Source: Xinhua |
February 6, 2013, Wednesday
|
Print Edition
Print Edition
China unveiled sweeping income distribution reforms yesterday to make wealthy state-owned firms, property speculators and the rich pay more to narrow a yawning gap between an urban elite and hundreds of millions of rural poor.
The reform will focus on increasing residents' incomes and narrowing the income distribution disparity, said a statement from the State Council.
The government will work to double the average real income of urban and rural residents by 2020 from the 2010 level and let the poor enjoy faster income growth, according to the guidelines.
The middle-income group will be expanded and the number of those living under the poverty line will be sharply reduced, while excessively high and hidden income will be adjusted and regulated, they said.
The reform also targets raising the proportion of residents' income in the overall national income and spending more government funds on social security and employment.
"Both efficiency and fairness should be considered in the initial distribution and redistribution processes," the State Council said.
The State Council urged local governments and various departments to map out supporting schemes and detailed rules for implementation of the guidelines.
The Gini coefficient, a rich-poor index, reached 0.474 in China in 2012, higher than the warning level of 0.4 set by the United Nations, said the National Bureau of Statistics.
Both central authorities and economists have urged accelerated reforms of the income distribution system to bridge the wealth gap.
The guidelines set a target of reducing the number of people living below the poverty line of 2,300 yuan (US$366) in per capita annual net income at 2010 prices by around 80 million as of 2015.
Rural migrant workers will be helped to register as urban residents and benefit from all basic public services in cities.
In other efforts to swell ordinary resident's pockets, China will promote fairer employment, raise grassroots civil servants' salaries, cut the tax burden for small firms and demand more listed companies pay dividends to individual investors, the guidelines said.
Meanwhile, the country is aiming at officials, state-owned enterprises and wealthy individuals in its bid to strengthen regulation of the high-income group.
Foreign individuals
Among the moves, foreign individuals will no longer be exempt from personal income taxes on stock dividends and bonuses they obtain from foreign-funded enterprises in China, the guidelines say.
SOEs must impose ceilings on payments to senior management appointed by the state and make sure senior staff's salary growth is slower than the average level for general employees.
The percentage of profits that central SOEs have to hand in to the government will be increased by around 5 percentage points by 2015 from the current level and the added income will go to social security.
The government will expand experimental property taxes gradually, collect consumption taxes on more high-end entertainment activities and luxury products, and study imposing inheritance taxes.
The reform will focus on increasing residents' incomes and narrowing the income distribution disparity, said a statement from the State Council.
The government will work to double the average real income of urban and rural residents by 2020 from the 2010 level and let the poor enjoy faster income growth, according to the guidelines.
The middle-income group will be expanded and the number of those living under the poverty line will be sharply reduced, while excessively high and hidden income will be adjusted and regulated, they said.
The reform also targets raising the proportion of residents' income in the overall national income and spending more government funds on social security and employment.
"Both efficiency and fairness should be considered in the initial distribution and redistribution processes," the State Council said.
The State Council urged local governments and various departments to map out supporting schemes and detailed rules for implementation of the guidelines.
The Gini coefficient, a rich-poor index, reached 0.474 in China in 2012, higher than the warning level of 0.4 set by the United Nations, said the National Bureau of Statistics.
Both central authorities and economists have urged accelerated reforms of the income distribution system to bridge the wealth gap.
The guidelines set a target of reducing the number of people living below the poverty line of 2,300 yuan (US$366) in per capita annual net income at 2010 prices by around 80 million as of 2015.
Rural migrant workers will be helped to register as urban residents and benefit from all basic public services in cities.
In other efforts to swell ordinary resident's pockets, China will promote fairer employment, raise grassroots civil servants' salaries, cut the tax burden for small firms and demand more listed companies pay dividends to individual investors, the guidelines said.
Meanwhile, the country is aiming at officials, state-owned enterprises and wealthy individuals in its bid to strengthen regulation of the high-income group.
Foreign individuals
Among the moves, foreign individuals will no longer be exempt from personal income taxes on stock dividends and bonuses they obtain from foreign-funded enterprises in China, the guidelines say.
SOEs must impose ceilings on payments to senior management appointed by the state and make sure senior staff's salary growth is slower than the average level for general employees.
The percentage of profits that central SOEs have to hand in to the government will be increased by around 5 percentage points by 2015 from the current level and the added income will go to social security.
The government will expand experimental property taxes gradually, collect consumption taxes on more high-end entertainment activities and luxury products, and study imposing inheritance taxes.
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