10 Proposals for Further Deepening Reform: Social Sector Reform
Shenzhen Innovation and Development Institute (SZIDI) released the China Reform Report 2017 in May 2018. Entitled Reform on Route, this year’s report evaluates twelve major aspects of the reform process in 2017, concludes reform experiences from the past five years and makes predictions on the future trend of reform in 2018 with ten policy recommendations. The report identifies 2017 as a crucial year during which series of planning and design culminate into implementation, and historical breakthroughs and periodical progresses rise to the surface.
Social policies on education, health care, social security, welfare and housing are designed by the central government but implemented by local governments. However, as local governments are predominantly after GDP numbers, social issues have always been left unattended, resulting in wide discontent among the public and a lack of accurate local knowledge within the central government.
The report points out that reforms in social sector should follow two principles, which are
l mobilize fiscal and governance resources to focus on one or two important projects
l these projects should not only address the core social issues but also contribute to the formation of a national identity
In particular, the report suggests that China should prioritize reform in education system to guarantee equal rights to educational opportunity, in the context of widening urban-rural gap as well as inequality in educational opportunity across regions. Affordable and accessible health care should be another critical issue worth of much attention. The establishment of the State Medical Insurance Administration after the 19th Party Congress directly under the State Council is a good first step.
