From Asia Times:
Skyrocketing costs of education, medical care and housing in China have been identified as the three major causes of growing public discontent in recent years, threatening social stability.
In an apparent effort to placate the public and implement President Hu Jintao’s plan to build a “harmonious society” and put “people first”, Premier Wen Jiabao said he will sharply increase government spending on education and medical care to help the needy and to strengthen efforts to bring down housing prices.
At the same time, the Chinese government also plans to increase its national-defense budget by 17.8% this year to step up the modernization of the country’s military.
This is despite the fact that Wen, in his government work report to the annual session of the National People’s Congress (NPC) on Monday, only set a moderate economic growth target of 8% for this year.[Full Text]
