DISMANTLING THE IRON RICE BOWL - WELFARE REFORMS IN THE PEOPLES-REPUBLIC-OF-CHINA

In common with most countries in the world, China is facing an increasing demand for welfare. The free-market economic reforms of the last decade have dramatically transformed social policy in China, which is gradually retreating from an egalitarian and collective approach and moving towards a pluralistic and 'residual' orientation. Now, widening income inequalities are accepted as both necessary and inevitable.