The government should play a leading role in solving China's current unbalanced regional development, said Long Yongtu, general-secretary of Boao Asia Forum and the chief negotiator on China's joining the World Trade Organization (WTO) in Chongqing municipality on July 7 at the sixth theme discussion of Chongqing Forum.

The director of Oxford Institute for Economic Policy (OXONIA), Que Fangquan, manager of Chongqing Minsheng Gas Corporation and Long Yongtu offered their views on "eliminating wealth gap and realizing sustainable development".

As Long noted, it is quite normal for China to witness unbalanced regional development after a wealth growth. It is a problem that every regional development must face.

He said, market economy brings competition, which is a must for development and will definitely separate the rich from the poor. Socialist market economy requires justice as much as competition. The government should play a dominant role in assisting the weak and backward, and balance the difference through a series of policies.

Economic globalization will help China narrow the wealth gap, Long added. An open market and liberalized investment and trade will promote transfer of human resources, capital and materials and provide China opportunity to integrate resources globally and tackle domestic problems.

OXONIA director stressed the importance to protect land property, which can both protect farmers' rights and interests and maintain social stability. Farmers are the top issue for the Chinese government.

He said frankly that China has too many grassroots cadres, which makes it complicated to carry out policies preferential to the farmers. In his opinion, the wealth gap can not end unless the problem of farmers be solved.

Xue Fangquan said that Chinese government should strengthen control over taxation, especially adjust consumption tax and personal income tax, improve the infrastructure construction and social welfare thus solve the problem of imbalance. He also called on that those who became rich first should be both entrepreneurs and philanthropists assisting the government to eliminate the wealth gap.

By People's Daily Online