Conclusion

Inequality is a universal social phenomenon. As the contributions to this volume all bear ample witness, China is no exception in this regard, despite three decades of state socialism before 1979 that emphasized equality in many regards. Cui Yongyuan is a Chinese TV personality (Talk to Little Cui on CCTV-1), member of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Committee and social commentator. His late 2011 comments on inequality in China are often quoted on social networks and blogs:

I remember when I was a child, the schoolbooks said China uses 7% of the world’s arable land to feed 22% of the world’s population. But, they never told us that this 22% of the world’s population includes 60% of its public officials; that this 22% of the world’s population receives 3% of its educational funding; that this 22% of the world’s population has 97% of its wealth concentrated in 1% of its hands; that 90% of this 22% of the world’s population eats the world’s most poisonous food, pays its highest taxes and does its most squalid and exhausting work.