Life on the margins: how China's rural deprivation curbs its success
Chinese Whispers4 Maalis 2024

Life on the margins: how China's rural deprivation curbs its success

Too often our stories about China are dictated by the urban experience, probably because journalists inside and outside of China are often based in the big cities; Beijing specifically. Those who live in the cities also tend to be more educated, more privileged, and so able to dominate the global attention more.

That’s why I’m particularly keen to hear about the lives of those who still live in the countryside, or at least are still considered ‘rural residents’ by the Chinese government. They make up a sizeable proportion of the population, and you’ll hear that in my first question to my guest today, we discuss just how big this group is.

How do the poorest in China live today, considering the government has announced that there is no more extreme poverty? Just how wide are their gaps in living standards, education, health, compared to their compatriots who live in the cities?

Professor Scott Rozelle joins me on this episode. He is the co-director of the Stanford Center on China’s Economy and Institutions, a developmental economist who has been conducting research in China for over three decades. He is also the co-author of Invisible China: How the Urban-Rural Divide Threatens China’s Rise.

Further listening from the archive:
Second class citizens: the lives of China’s internal migrants: https://www.spectator.co.uk/podcast/second-class-citizens-the-lives-of-chinas-internal-migrants/
Is China turning away from the world?: https://www.spectator.co.uk/podcast/is-china-turning-away-from-the-world/

Produced by Cindy Yu and Joe Bedell-Brill.

Become a Spectator subscriber today to access this podcast without adverts. Go to spectator.co.uk/adfree to find out more.


For more Spectator podcasts, go to spectator.co.uk/podcasts.


Contact us: podcast@spectator.co.uk

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Jaksot(122)

Hong Kong's National Security Law, one year on

Hong Kong's National Security Law, one year on

In the 12 months since the enactment of the National Security Law on Hong Kong, opposition leaders, journalists and activists have been arrested; reforms on education and elections begun; and last wee...

28 Kesä 202134min

Has economic engagement with China failed?

Has economic engagement with China failed?

Exactly 20 years ago, China acceded to the World Trade Organisation. In the decades since, the globalised world became what we know today, with hundreds of millions of Chinese and people around the wo...

14 Kesä 202139min

Journalism in China: what can and can't you say?

Journalism in China: what can and can't you say?

What is it like to be a journalist in China? There are obvious restrictions on freedom of speech, but, as I find out on this episode, there are creative ways to navigate the strict system of censorshi...

31 Touko 202138min

The fightback against facial recognition

The fightback against facial recognition

China has run wild with facial recognition. From using it to ration tissues in public toilets, to identifying highest paying customers in stores and criminals from a crowd, what is a budding technolog...

17 Touko 202140min

Respect your elders: how the Chinese see family life

Respect your elders: how the Chinese see family life

The archaic-sounding notion of 'filial piety' has little direct translation into English, but is a deep-rooted part of Chinese culture and ethics. On this episode, I find out about what motivates the ...

3 Touko 202130min

Do China's intellectual elite support the government?

Do China's intellectual elite support the government?

You might think that in a country as tightly controlled as China, diversity of opinion is hard to come by in written form. But as I find out in this episode, there is a vibrant conversation going on w...

19 Huhti 202134min

Why does China care about Taiwan?

Why does China care about Taiwan?

Cross-strait relations between China and Taiwan seem to be hotting up, with headlines frequently touting the possibility of a military takeover by Beijing. But why does China care so much about this s...

5 Huhti 202140min

Is anyone still communist in the Chinese Communist Party?

Is anyone still communist in the Chinese Communist Party?

'Scratch a communist, you’ll find a nationalist underneath’, Professor Kerry Brown, the director of the Lau China Institute at King's College London, tells me on this episode. Together with Professor ...

22 Maalis 202140min

Suosittua kategoriassa Politiikka ja uutiset

uutiscast
aikalisa
ootsa-kuullut-tasta-2
rss-ootsa-kuullut-tasta
politiikan-puskaradio
tervo-halme
rss-podme-livebox
rss-vaalirankkurit-podcast
et-sa-noin-voi-sanoo-esittaa
otetaan-yhdet
the-ulkopolitist
rss-asiastudio
rikosmyytit
aihe
rss-merja-mahkan-rahat
rss-kaikki-uusiksi
rss-hyvaa-huomenta-bryssel
rss-aijat-hopottaa-podcast
rss-sanna-ukkola-show-verkkouutiset
rss-vain-talouselamaa