By He Jianwu, Research Team on “Survey on People’s Livelihood in China”, DRC

Research Report, No.99, 2021 (Total 6164) 2021-4-26

Abstract: Based on the framework and indicators of people’s livelihood index (PLI), this paper analyzes and summarizes the development achievements and weak points in terms of people's livelihood in the course of building a moderately prosperous society in all respects. The results show that the building of a moderately prosperous society in all respects has significantly improved people’s wellbeing and made development become more balanced, coordinated and sustainable. However, there are also some prominent problems in people’s livelihood to be addressed. First, housing prices are rising faster than income growth, increasing the pressure of people’s living in urban areas. Second, the difference of local public finance capacity directly affects the improvement of public service equalization. Third, risks of public health security in most areas, especially in densely populated areas, deserve more attention. Fourth, difficult transformation of economic structure has limited the rapid improvement of air quality in some regions. To address these problems, the paper puts forward following policy options. We need to fully put the principle of “houses are for living in, not for speculation” into practice; find new approaches for the establishment of a mechanism to ensure balanced regional financial resources; expedite the construction of a strong and efficient public health security system; and accelerate the pace of industrial transformation in regions in northern China with a heavy dependency on energy and heavy and chemical industries.

Keywords: building a moderately prosperous society in all respects, the field of people’s livelihood, achievements, weak points