Chinese Hotel Industry- Values
Introduction
Since the implementation of economic reform and opening up in 1978, China has adopted a pragmatic approach to running the economy which has resulted in a socialist market economy with Chinese characteristics.
This socialist market economy has allowed China to maintain her socialist status but adopt practices of other advanced economies to modernise the country and to improve the standard of living for her people. For example, while land still belongs to the socialist state, the right to use it for 30, 50 or 70 years can be the same as in any capitalist country. Economic reforms initially in the primary sector, followed by the secondary sector and recently in the tertiary sector such as retailing, have released the dynamic force of individual initiatives. This combined with the rapid growth of foreign investment have propelled the economy at double digit growth at a time when the whole Western world is agonising with the pain of high unemployment-rates and continued downsizing programmes even by blue chip companies.
The economic reform and the rapid economic growth have transformed Chinese society. Over 110 million people have joined village and town enterprises and are transformed from under-employed farm labourers to wage earners with money in their pockets.
For people who are able to exercise private initiative more than others, they stand a better chance of obtaining a bigger share of the economic pie. They comprise the increasingly emerging middle income household in China.
The Emerging "Xiao Kang" Family or Middle Income Household in China
Middle class is certainly a Western concept for the Chinese. In China however, there is a lot of discussion on "Xiao Kang" (little rich) family. In a way "Xiao Kang" families are the Chinese version of the middle class.
What is "Xiao Kang" ? "Xiao Kang", in Confucius ideology, is the state of a society where people live and work happily. In today's context, the official view of "Xiao Kang" livelihood means the following:
1. People eat well, having more quality and nutritious food.
2. People dress well, paying more attention to aesthetic outlook and appearance.
3. People live well, having nicely furnished home plus consumer durables which provide convenience and entertainment.
4. People enjoy a cultural life with significant increase in circulation of newspapers and magazines.
Back in 1984, Deng Xiao-peng, the architect of economic reform in China set the target of "Xiao Kang" livelihood for the whole country to be achieved by the year 2000. He recognised that for the size of a country as big as China with great regional differences between cities and countryside, he would need to set a modest target. The target he and the central government planners set was US$800 GDP per capita in 1980 dollar value.
Middle income household by definition refers to urban families. It is therefore important that we examine the middle income household or the "Xiao Kang" families in urban China. China has 1.2 billion [next page]