ABSTRACT
The PRC celebrated its sixtieth anniversary in 2009. In the precedingdecade, China experienced further social changes and, in response,government policy sought to address problems arising from the rapid economic growth that continued to transform the country and the lives of its people. Among the new developments was the formation of a burgeoning middle class, while at the top a small, wealthy, elite class emerged in the great coastal cities. Life in some rural areas also improved but the lure of the city drew ever-increasing numbers of young people, leaving the fields to the middle-aged and elderly. At the bottom, an estimated 200 million people still struggled with meagre incomes and limited resources.
