Globaleyes

The Great Divide: A Chinese Perspective on Globalization

By Li Xue

At the famous Huangguoshu (Yellow Fruit Tree) Waterfall in Guizhou Province, I recently watched a nine-year-old boy stand on one side of the mountain pass, picking up empty bottles littered by tourists. He earns 10 Yuan ($1.33) for ever 100 bottles he sells, which is good income for his family. But as he worked this day, another boy about his age passed by, waving to his parents behind, “Come on!” The poor boy stopped to stare: the second boy was sitting on a sedan chair carried by two men. The poor boy watched until the rich boy’s brand new Nike shoes disappeared into the bamboo woods.

The two boys are a study in contrasts – just like China today. China’s massive economic growth has brought abundant consumer goods, freer information flow and convenient transportation. People’s three most desired possessions have changed from bicycle, watch and sewing machines to television, refrigerator and washing machine, and now to house, car and insurance. That, at least, is the story for the well-off.

The change does not involve rural peasants, especially in western China, nor does it include the low-paid migrant workers streaming into the cities from afar. And it does not include the marginalized, such as people with disabilities, who are excluded from mainstream society. Economic globalization has resulted in tremendous material wealth for many Chinese, but the benefits have not reached all people.

The enlarging differences

The differences between different parts of China have reached alarming proportions. For example, Shanghai enjoys magnetically levitated trains and Internet broadband services while people in Qinghai use horses and yak oil lamp. In 2006, average per capita disposable income for rural residents was 3,587 Yuan ($494 Cdn/$477 US) compared to 11,759 Yuan ($1620 Cdn/$1563 US) for urban residents. More than 21 million people still live in absolute poverty in China.

Within the cities, class difference is obvious. Many restaurants and clubs cater only to those in the middle class and above. Meanwhile, laid-off workers and migrant workers cannot afford hospitals with good doctors and facilities, and their children can only go to poorly equipped schools.

The differences are also visible in rural China. For example, in the south of Jiangsu Province, some peasants own several businesses and earn more than a university professor. In contrast, in the west of Gansu province, the disposable annual income for most peasants is much lower than a cleaner’s monthly salary in the city. To a peasant in Gansu 50 Yuan means a fortune while to a peasant in Jiangsu, it only buys two packs of cigarettes.

Migration

This great divide, caused by economic, cultural and policy factors, has triggered a major trend: migration. Since 1958, China’s household registration management system has strictly limited migration of peasants into cities, and put restrictions on inter-city population movements. The economic reform since 1978, however, has marked a beginning of deregulation. Between 1993 and 2003, the migrant population increased from 70 million to 140 million. The word “peasant workers” was given to describe those who migrated from the countryside to the cities to improve their lives.

• This migration, however, has in many cases exacerbated the great divide. Peasant workers have brought abundant cheap labour to the cities, but their own quality of life suffers. They live in crowded shabby dormitories, work long hours and face salary traps (employers refuse to pay their salaries claiming certain conditions are not met). Their residence permits prohibit them from accessing welfare in urban areas. They are afraid to get ill; for treatment could cost them everything they own or force them back to the countryside. Under the current system, the price they pay for such services as transportation, energy, health care and housing continues to grow, and education after middle school continues to become more and more expensive. Peasant workers and laid-off workers, together with others who always stay on the margin, struggle to have access to better educational services and medical care.

 

Public Sphere

Along with the economic development, traditional Chinese media have also undergone radical transition, from acting as party mouthpieces to catering to the interests of market forces. Even though media publications are still carefully censored, people now have much more freedom of choice when it comes to media information. NGOs, such as the Amity Foundation, have their own publications and websites. Students can participate in a variety of academic discussions, from politics to religion, and literature to science. People with access to the Internet can express themselves on self-media such as blogs. All this was not possible 20 years ago.

Even in this the great divide exists. The voices of those who don’t have television or Internet are disappearing. There is a significant digital divide and knowledge gap between those who have access and those who don’t. But in 2006, the government began offering free basic education in rural areas. This is a sign that the divide has drawn state attention. After all, development is not only characterized by economic booms or technological breakthroughs, but also by a process of political and cultural changes, requiring both policies and public opinions for fostering a harmonious society. Free tuition in rural areas is a big step toward bridging the divide, and a sign of hope for the future of China in this age of globalization.

Li Xue is works for the publicity division of the Amity Foundation, an independent Chinese voluntary organization created in 1985 on the initiative of Chinese Christians to promote education, social services, health, and rural development from China’s coastal provinces in the east to the minority areas of the west.  MCC partners with Amity on various projects.  Li Xue works mainly with the Chinese language version of Amity’s Newsletter. Before joining the Amity Foundation in December 2006 she graduated from Hong Kong City University, where she studied Communications and News Media.

 

The perspectives included in Globaleyes do not necessarily reflect MCC opinion.