As Xi Jinping is set to formally take charge of China, here are three
major challenges facing the country's population of 1.3 billion people. FULL STORY
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FROM 'PRINCELING' TO CHINA'S PRESIDENT
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CHINA AT CROSSROADS
March 5, 2013 -- Updated 1645 GMT (0045 HKT)
STORY HIGHLIGHTS
- CNN asked experts to explain biggest challenges facing China
- Experts: Economic disparity, gender imbalance, water and food security are big issues
- Delegates are meeting for National People's Congress in Beijing
- Xi Jinping to formally become Chinese president at end of congress
Xi, along with new
premier Li Keqiang, has inherited a supercharged economy that's created
vast riches for some, a growing middle class, and many poorer migrant
workers who are becoming increasingly frustrated with their lot in life.
But the deepening wealth divide isn't the only challenge facing the country's population of 1.3 billion people.
In November, as China was
convening its 18th National Communist Party Congress, CNN asked a
number of China experts to define what they believe to be the country's
most pressing challenges. We revisit their thoughts four months on, as
delegates attend the 12th National People's Congress in Beijing.
1. Closing the wealth gap
In February, the Chinese
government announced plan to raise spending on social welfare by two
percentage points within the next five years.
Economist Li Gan says
that's nowhere near enough to narrow the wealth gap and argues that the
country needs to work on a "much larger scale."
"If the government
creates a stronger social safety net for its citizens, Chinese workers
will feel less pressure to save for health emergencies, unemployment and
retirement, and more likely to buy goods and services -- and create a
mature consumer-driven economy," he says.
2. Too many men
Faced with a surging
population, China attempted to put the brakes on procreation in the late
1970s by implementing a controversial policy limiting couples in some
areas to just one child.
Since then, a cultural
bias towards male children has led to a skewed child sex ratio where
millions of men, or "bare branches" face an uncertain future due to the
lack of potential female partners, writes evolutionary biologist Rob
Brooks.
"It would be difficult
to overstate the urgent need for China to emulate South Korea in
eliminating sex-biased abortion and neglect," Brooks writes.
Studies show, he says, what can happen if it doesn't.
3. Securing China's food, water and air
The legacy of China's
powerhouse of cheap, labor-intensive exports is a natural environment
tainted by the pollutants of economic growth.
Author Geoff Hiscock
says securing the food, water and air security of China's 1.35 billion
people is one of the leadership's biggest challenges.
"Beijing and other parts
of northeastern China are already water-stressed, the air quality in
inland mega-cities such as Chongqing and Chengdu is abysmal, farming
land is being poisoned by toxic runoff from mining and industrial
activities, acid rain blights large parts of south China, contagious
disease is an ever-present risk among its livestock, and unscrupulous
makers sell tainted foodstuffs," Hiscock writes.
So what can China do about it? More from Hiscock.
CNN's Paul Armstrong and Kevin Voigt contributed to this story.
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