Vice President Li Peilin Delivers a Report at the Academy of Marxism

On the morning of July 23, the Academic Division of Marxist Studies and the Academy of Marxism of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences held the 73rd “Sino-Foreign Marxist Academic Report Meeting.” Li Peilin, Vice President of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences and Director of the Institute of Sociology, delivered an academic report titled “The Livelihood Construction Goals of Completing the Building of a Moderately Prosperous Society in All Respects.” Cheng Enfu, Director of the Academic Division of Marxist Studies and President of the Academy of Marxism, chaired the report meeting. The report conducted an in-depth analysis of several aspects concerning the economic, employment, and income distribution goals of completing the building of a moderately prosperous society in all respects. Li Peilin pointed out that “society” has a distinction between a “big society” and a “small society.” The “big society” includes economic, political, cultural, and other aspects—for example, the new-democratic society, the moderately prosperous society, the harmonious society, and the socialist society with Chinese characteristics. What we now refer to as social construction is relatively a concept of a “small society,” one that is distinct from politics, economy, and culture. The report of the 18th National Congress of the CPC [1]1 The 18th National Congress of the CPC was held in November 2012; it set the goal of completing the building of a moderately prosperous society in all respects by 2020 and emphasized improving people’s livelihoods. proposed social construction with a focus on improving people’s livelihoods, including six major tasks: education, employment, income distribution, social security, healthcare, and social management. This set the direction and goals for social construction. Regarding the economic goals of completing the building of a moderately prosperous society in all respects, Li Peilin pointed out that currently, China’s economic growth is clearly trending toward a slowdown. Economic development is, after all, the foundation of livelihood construction, and ensuring the sustainability of economic growth is key to improving people’s livelihoods. However, the present moment is also favorable for structural adjustment. The regional growth pattern and the pattern of urban and rural residents’ income growth are undergoing transformative changes: the central and western regions have grown faster than the eastern region for seven consecutive years, and the per capita net income of farmers has grown faster than that of urban residents for three consecutive years. It is necessary to seize this favorable opportunity to transform the development model and adjust the structure. Regarding the employment goals of completing the building of a moderately prosperous society in all respects, Li Peilin indicated that the report of the 18th National Congress of the CPC placed youth employment, with college graduates as the focus, at the top of China’s employment issues, showing that college student employment is indeed facing some difficulties and that the problem of college student employment has become more prominent. Li Peilin pointed out that the difficulty of college student employment (issues of industrial structure adjustment and educational structure), the structural shortage of labor (difficulty in recruiting workers and the problem of migrant workers integrating into cities), and the large surplus of rural labor (issues of labor transfer and farmers’ income) coexist simultaneously. This is a characteristic of China’s current job market. Regarding the income distribution goals of completing the building of a moderately prosperous society in all respects, Li Peilin discussed the issue of income distribution and social identity. He pointed out that, according to surveys, the proportion of urban and rural residents in China who identify with the “middle” socioeconomic status is not only lower than that in developed countries such as the United States, France, and Japan but also lower than that in developing countries such as Brazil and India. The socioeconomic status identity of urban and rural residents in China is generally skewed downward, a situation worthy of vigilance. In the reform of the income distribution system, it is necessary not only to focus on regulating distribution outcomes but also to pay close attention to straightening out the order of income distribution and establishing a mechanism for fair opportunities. Online editor: Lan He Shui

7月23日上午，中国社会科学院马克思主义研究学部、马克思主义研究院举办第73次“中外马克思主义学术报告会”，中国社会科学院副院长兼社会学研究所所长李培林作题为“全面建成小康社会的民生建设目标”的学术报告，马克思主义研究学部主任、马克思主义研究院院长程恩富主持报告会。 报告对关于全面建成小康社会的经济、就业、收入分配目标等几个方面进行了深入剖析。李培林指出，“社会”有“大社会”和“小社会”之分，“大社会”包括经济、政治、文化等各个方面，比如说新民主主义社会、小康社会、和谐社会、中国特色社会主义社会。现在我们说的社会建设相对来说是一个“小社会”概念，是有别于政治、经济、文化的一个社会。十八大报告提出以改善民生为重点的社会建设，包括教育、就业、收入分配、社会保障、医疗和社会管理六大任务，这就给社会建设规定了方向和目标。 关于全面建成小康社会的经济目标，李培林指出，当前，我国经济增长趋缓走向明显，经济发展毕竟是民生建设的基础，保证经济增长的持续性是改善民生的关键。但当前也是结构调整的有利时机，区域增长格局和城乡居民收入增长格局正在发生转折性变化，中西部地区已经连续7年增长快于东部，农民人均纯收入增长连续3年快于城镇居民，要抓住有利时机进行发展方式的转变和结构调整。 关于全面建成小康社会的就业目标，李培林表示，党的十八大报告把高校毕业生为重点的青年就业工作摆在我国就业问题的第一位，表明现在大学生就业确实面临一些困难，大学生就业问题变得更加突出。李培林指出，大学生就业难（产业结构调整和教育结构问题）、劳动力结构性短缺（招工难和农民工融入城市问题）和农村富余劳动力较多（劳动力转移和农民收入问题）同时并存，这是我国当前就业市场的特点。 关于全面建成小康社会的收入分配目标，李培林谈了收入分配与社会认同的问题。他指出，据调查显示，我国城乡居民社会经济地位“中层”认同比例，不但低于美国、法国、日本等发达国家，也低于巴西、印度等发展中国家。我国城乡居民社会经济地位认同普遍偏下，这种情况值得警惕。在收入分配制度的改革中，既要注重分配结果的调节，也要高度关注理顺收入分配秩序、建立机会公平机制的问题。 网络编辑：岚河水