The middle-income group has reached 400 million. How to narrow the income gap during the 14th Five-Year Plan

　　The 2035 long-term goal mentions that "per capita GDP will reach the level of moderately developed countries, and the middle-income group will be significantly expanded."

　　In order to firmly promote common prosperity, narrow the gap between the rich and the poor, and expand the middle-income group, during the "14th Five-Year Plan" period, there will be more practical measures to improve people's livelihood.

　　The Fifth Plenary Session of the 19th Central Committee of the Communist Party of China was held in Beijing from October 26th to 29th. It reviewed and approved the "Proposals of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China on Formulating the Fourteenth Five-Year Plan for National Economic and Social Development and the Long-Term Goals for 2035 ".

On October 30, the CPC Central Committee held a press conference to introduce the spirit of the Fifth Plenary Session of the 19th CPC Central Committee.

　　Ning Jizhe, member and deputy director of the National Development and Reform Commission, and secretary and director of the National Bureau of Statistics, stated at the press conference that the "14th Five-Year Plan" proposal complies with the expectations of hundreds of millions of people and proposes to improve people's livelihood and well-being and improve people's quality of life. Some important requirements and major initiatives.

　　For example, in terms of income, the people's income level will be increased, the income of urban and rural residents will be increased through multiple channels, and the income of residents will be basically synchronized with economic growth.

　　According to data released by the National Bureau of Statistics, the income of Chinese residents has continued to grow in recent years. From 2016 to 2019, the average annual per capita disposable income of residents increased by 6.5%; the urban-rural gap gradually narrowed, and the per capita disposable income of urban and rural residents in 2019 The ratio was 2.64, a decrease of 0.09 from 2015; the size of the middle-income group expanded, from more than 100 million people in 2010 to more than 400 million people in 2019.

　　At the same time, the scale of household consumption continues to expand. In 2019, the total retail sales of consumer goods reached 41.2 trillion yuan, an increase of 36.9% over 2015; the consumption structure has also been continuously optimized, and the Engel coefficient (the proportion of household food expenditure in total expenditure) has increased from 2015 The 30.6% of the year dropped to 28.2% in 2019, reflecting the upgrading of the consumption structure; new consumption formats and new models are booming. In 2019, online retail sales reached 10.6 trillion yuan. This year, online retail is even more rising.

　　Facing the impact of the epidemic in the past few months, the country has adopted measures to increase income and expand consumption, and residents' income and consumption have gradually recovered.

In the first three quarters, the national per capita disposable income increased by 0.6% in real terms, turning from negative to positive for the first time during the year.

In September, the total retail sales of consumer goods increased by 3.3% year-on-year, and the growth rate in the third quarter also turned from negative to positive.

　　In response to the issue of income gaps in different industries and regions, Ning Jizhe said that during the "14th Five-Year Plan" period, we will solidly promote common prosperity in accordance with the requirements of the "Proposals", insist on distribution according to work as the main body, coexistence of multiple distribution methods, and increase labor. The proportion of remuneration in the primary distribution, improve the reasonable wage growth mechanism, focus on increasing the income of low-income groups, and expand middle-income groups; improve the factor distribution policy system to increase the factor income of low- and middle-income groups; improve the redistribution mechanism to increase Taxation, social security, transfer payment, etc. adjustment strength and precision; play the role of the third distribution to develop charity.

　　According to the Plenary Communiqué, the 2035 long-term goal mentioned that "per capita GDP reaches the level of a moderately developed country, and the middle-income group has expanded significantly."

　　The "14th Five-Year Plan" period is a critical period for China to overcome the middle-income trap.

To truly overcome the middle-income trap, breakthroughs must be made in a series of areas such as income distribution, people's livelihood construction, and public services.

　　Liu Yuanchun, vice president of Renmin University of China, said that according to current calculations, our country is expected to steadily enter the threshold of high-income development from a middle-income country in 2024.

Leaping over the middle-income trap requires us to make tremendous progress in both economic and social construction. In terms of development goals, we need new connotations and new requirements.

　　Wang Yiming, the former deputy director of the Development Research Center of the State Council, said that the reform of the income distribution system should be accelerated to release the potential of domestic demand, with the promotion of low-income people entering the middle-income group as the main battlefield, and the improvement of human capital and labor productivity as the main direction, and strive to achieve it in 15 years. The middle-income group has doubled from 400 million people to 800 million people, creating conditions for building a strong domestic market.

　　Author: sweet wish