BEIJING, May 10 -- In reality, the middle class group has developed rather slowly in China. Most middle class members in China only exist in some economically prosperous regions, especially in big cities. It is really difficult to find people who can be categorized as the middle class group in places other than those places in China.

Middle-income earners currently account for only a small proportion in society, said Sun Liping, a professor from the School of Sociology of Tsinghua University in his recent article published in the Economic Observer.

    He said that a sociologist, Lu Xueyi, once presumed that Chinese middle class group expanded at a rate of 1 percent every year. Based on this increasing rate, Lu predicted that in twenty years Chinese middle class would account for 40 precent of the total workforce in society.

However, in Professor Sun's opinion, the current Chinese social structure shows that farmers still make up 42.9 percent of the total working population in society, while the middle class group accounts for only 20 percent of the total workforce.

At present, Chinese society has not formed the spindle shape in which the middle class group dominates. Rather, low income class still constitutes the majority part in society.

    Recently, the Economic Research Institute of the State Development and Reform Commission issued a report which sets standards for the middle class income level. According to these standards, people whose family income reaches 53,700-160,000 yuan, or people who make an annual income of 34,000-100,000 yuan, can be defined as the middle class group. Based on these standards, the report estimates that there are about 100 million people in China who can be categorized as the middle class group, accounting for 7 precent of the country's total population.

    It should be noted that even among this tiny portion, a considerable number of people in the middle class group are public servants who work in government institutions. In a recent report, public servants are listed as the third most important source for the middle class group. In another report issued by the Chines Academy of Social Sciences, "Party officials" is ranked as the most important source for the middle class.

    In order to expand the proportion of the middle class group in society, Sun said, it is necessary to try to avoid that the upper class in society takes too many of the resources, which will constrain the development of the middle class. At present, when China is taking measures to try to narrow down the gap between the rich and the poor, the state should particularly see to it that the middle class do not fall victim to this process. At the same time, we should also try to avoid that the middle class become the scapegoat in society's hatred against the rich, Sun noted.

    (Source: chinanews.cn)