Social Stratification in Contemporary China

This book discusses the historical formation, current situation, and future trend of China’s social stratification in the past 40 years of reform and opening up in all aspects. It analyzes the differences in China’s social structure from a structural perspective, categorizing them into four groups: urban areas, rural areas, medium-sized cities, megacities. These groups exhibit distinct differences in political, economic, and social aspects. The fragmentation among these four groups has led to significant imbalances in the distribution of resources. Resources owned by these different groups are difficult to flow freely and be allocated efficiently. Chinese social structure used to be an inverted “T-shaped” structure, but with the rapid development of Chinese society, Chinese society has now formed a triangle-shaped structure. To drive these changes, a modern transformation of the social structure is needed through multifaceted improvements such as the integration of migrant workers into the middle-class group and the industrial innovation and upgrading. This innovations also include new ways of organizing production in modern agriculture. Modern farmers can be highly skilled technicians in organic agriculture or managers of modern agricultural enterprises, equipped with scientific thinking and advanced skills. These changes are essential for achieving an olive-shaped society and promoting social equity and stability in China.