V. GELBRAS, Doctor of Economics

On October 15-21, 2007, Beijing hosted the 17th Congress of the Communist Party of China, which adopted a detailed program for further development of the country. The congress, in particular, confirmed the correctness of the policy on the development of private entrepreneurship. At the same time, while supporting the economic aspirations entrepreneurs, the party and the state intend to demand that they make a more substantial contribution to solving the social problems of Chinese society, more responsible compliance with the law, especially the norms governing employment, working conditions and wages.

In general, the national business community has ample opportunities to address the current problems of the country's development.

In private enterprises in China, excessive working hours, poor working conditions, causing mass morbidity, and high injuries are common. According to a survey conducted by the Ministry of Labor and Social Security of the People's Republic of China, excessive working hours persisted in 2006. So, migrant farmers work an average of 6.3 days a week, about 9 hours a day. Only less than 12% can use the two days off established by law. 46% work without an employment contract. More than 50% do not receive compensation for overtime work. More than 57% cannot receive compensation for injuries, etc. ¹ Many enterprises do not have trade union organizations. The majority of employees of private enterprises are not covered by social security and social insurance standards (payment of pensions, guarantees of minimum incomes, payment of medical expenses, unemployment benefits, material compensation for industrial injuries). Private enterprises are characterized by low wages, especially for migrant farmers. 80% of the 100-120 million migrants work in private enterprises. Although the level of their salaries increased in 2003-2006, surveys have shown that they remain extremely low.

CONTRADICTIONS BETWEEN LABOR AND CAPITAL

A sample survey conducted by the Ministry of Labor and Social Security of the People's Republic of China in 2006 provided information on the amount of remuneration for migrant farmers. It turned out that the monthly salary of 13.7% of respondents did not reach 400 yuan (1 yuan is equal to 0.13 US dollars). Almost 78% of migrant farmers earned between 400 and 1,600 yuan. Only 8.7% received more than 1,600 yuan.² Consequently, the wages of more than 90% of farmers working in cities and towns remain well below the tax-free minimum.

The report says that only 10% of migrant farmers receive wages of more than 1,000 yuan. Apparently, even scanty earnings attract farmers to the cities. It is also noted that only 81% of migrant farmers receive what they earn in full, while 18% are forced to settle for paying only a "part" of their salary. Approximately 1% do not receive it at all, or only a small part ^of it is given to them3. Several years ago, the CPC Central Committee and the State Council of the People's Republic of China demanded that enterprises pay their employees in full. However, it seems that the implementation of the requirement is proceeding without much zeal.

The contradictions between labor and capital are a fact of today. If in 2000 the number of labor conflicts in private enterprises amounted to 14.9% of the total mass of them in the country, then in 2004 it was already 17.3%. The growth rate of labor conflicts in private enterprises outstrips the overall increase in the country. The document of the Ministry of Labor and Social Security of the People's Republic of China states: "Generally speaking, the contradictions between labor and capital have become a sharp social contradiction." ⁴

In 2006, there were 317,000 labor conflicts in the country. In comparison with 1995, their total number increased by 13.5 times, including collective labor conflicts-by 5.4 times.

More than a third of conflicts arise over pay and social benefits. The number of conflicts over employment contracts is growing rapidly.⁵

The growing social contradictions characterize only one important aspect of Chinese reality. Maximum savings on staff salaries and social expenses have become an important factor in the rapid growth of private entrepreneurship.

It is noteworthy that nowadays, as a rule, people speak about private entrepreneurship in China only with enthusiasm. It is reported that entrepreneurs have also achieved success in one area

Ending. For the beginning, see: "Asia and Africa Today", 2007, N 11.

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Number of labor conflicts in China

Source: Data from the Ministry of Labor and Social Security of the People's Republic of China.

economy, and in another. There is as much information as you want and it is extremely positive. Thus, in the repeatedly cited publication ⁶*, the authors consider in detail eight major successes of national private business in all areas of the economy, in technical progress and in conducting their own organizational improvement.

Meanwhile, many problems remain unresolved. So, the Chinese press says that it takes 111 days to register a company in China. While registration costs in developed countries do not exceed 1% of per capita annual income, in China they are equal to 11%.

As for negative phenomena, they are usually either forgotten to report, or extremely brief, and often vague information is published. Everything in the country is subject to accelerated economic growth, designed to ensure the earliest possible conquest of command peaks in the global economy. This is the reality of a"socialist market economy".

Finally, allowing individual and private entrepreneurs to participate in foreign economic activity was a powerful impetus for the development of private entrepreneurship. By participating in the implementation of orders from foreign companies for the assembly, refinement, completion and production of products from parts, components, components imported by customers into the country, they received a source of huge profits. There is a widespread view that foreign capital has become the" gas station "of private capital, and has become its" ultimate rice paddy " ^.7

Never before has private entrepreneurship, let alone small-scale (family) entrepreneurship, developed so rapidly as in 2000-2005.

Never before has it played any significant role in foreign trade. In the 10th five-year plan (2001-2005), it provided more than 17% of the increase in exports and imports, including over 21% of the increase in exports. The volume of exports and imports has increased 44.3 times in five years! The share of private enterprises in foreign trade turnover increased from 0.8% to almost 12%. Exports of private enterprises increased by 47 times!

Two-thirds of the country's private enterprises are concentrated in the eastern regions of the country. Including in the areas of export production-in Guangdong Province (389.8 thousand), Shanghai (384.9 thousand), Jiangsu (418 thousand), Zhejiang (333.2 thousand), Beijing (224.7 thousand), Shandong (276.1 thousand) and others, more than half of all private enterprises in the country are concentrated. They have become an important part of the country's export-oriented economic complex. If in 2000 1,8 thousand private enterprises were engaged in export, in 2005 it was already 56 thousand.

STRUCTURE OF THE PRIVATE BUSINESS COMMUNITY

Data on national private entrepreneurship are mainly based on sample surveys. Therefore, the information published in China differs significantly. There is, for example, different information about the number of private institutions and the number of employees employed in them. According to some data, there are more than 4.6 million small and medium-sized enterprises and 38 million individual (family) institutions in the country. According to other information, the number of individual (family) and private institutions is more than 32 million. However, such differences hide more serious discrepancies. Thus, according to some sources, the private sector provides 15% of tax revenues, according to others-50%.

As you can see, the foundation of the private sector was formed by a lot of small (family) institutions (geti jingji).

Data on individual (family) and private property are largely approximate, since, unlike other forms of ownership, the State Tax Service of the People's Republic of China does not have accurate data on them-

Basic indicators of foreign economic activity of individual (family) and private enterprises

Source. Minying jingji dafazhan kuajin lishi xin shiqi ( Private sector development has entered a new stage) - Zhongguo minying jingji fazhan baogao. Ns 3 (2005 - 2006) - http://www.pishu.cn/pishu/jj/200609/695.html

* See the beginning of this article in N 11.

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et. As noted in the repeatedly cited report on the entry of the private sector into a new stage of development, one third of urban workers are not counted. "The vast majority of them are employed in individual and private farms"⁸. Thus, it is reported that more than 75 million family members and 94.2 million employees are actually employed in individual farms. According to some Chinese estimates, these farms actually number between 150 and 200 million people, and each of them employs an average of no more than 2.4 workers.⁹

More detailed information is available about private entrepreneurs who base their activities on attracting hired labor. The beginning of their revival usually dates back to April 12, 1988, when the Constitution of the People's Republic of China for the first time included a provision on the permissibility of private entrepreneurship. In 1995-2005, the number of private entrepreneurs increased from 1.34 million to 11 million people, that is, it increased 8-fold in 10 years.

The number of private enterprises increased from 655 thousand to almost 5 million in 2006, or 7.6 times, and their authorized capital increased from 262.1 billion rubles. up to 7.6 trillion rubles. RMB, that is, more than 29 times!

The changes that have taken place over 10 years are impressive. Over the past years, the economic base of the private sector has been strengthened.

As of the end of 2005, 105,000 enterprises, representing 2.4% of the total mass of private enterprises, had an authorized capital of more than 10 million yuan, and 3,049 enterprises (0.07%) had an authorized capital of more than 100 million yuan. It is important that both these groups increased by 35% and 45%, respectively, in 2005 alone!

According to the National Economic Census of 2004, the average authorized capital of a private enterprise exceeded $ 1.3 million. The number of enterprises with an authorized capital of more than 1 million yuan has reached 1.09 million, which is more than 3 times higher than the same indicator in 1995. They accounted for almost 30% of all private enterprises. 2.1 thousand large private enterprises had an authorized capital of more than 100 million yuan.

No less interesting is their grouping by the number of employees. 5.4 thousand enterprises had from 500 to 999 employees, 2.2 thousand - - from 1,000 to 2,999 employees, 196-from 3,000 to 4,999 employees, and 66 enterprises had 5,000 or more employees.

The economic census revealed that only 118 private industrial enterprises met the criteria of a large enterprise. According to the census criteria, their annual income should be equal to or greater than 300 million yuan, their assets should be equal to or greater than 400 million yuan, and the number of employees should be at least 2,000 or more.

In total, there were 2,154 enterprises of this scale in the country, including 1,229 with state or collective capital participation. Thus, the main backbone of private enterprises (about 70%) is formed by relatively small firms.

THE ROLE OF THE PRIVATE SECTOR IN CHINA'S ECONOMY

Over the past seven years, national non-governmental organizations (neizi mining jingji) have begun to play an important role in the country's economy. Their contribution to GDP has increased.

According to the publications of Chinese authors, at the end of the 10th five-year plan, that is, in 2005, almost 50% of GDP was formed in national non-state farms. The economy with foreign investments, investments from Hong Kong, Macao, and Taiwan accounts for 15-16% of GDP. In total-about 65%. This share seems gigantic in the conditions when the state has recently completely dominated the economy and continues to occupy commanding heights in its basic points.

As stated in the cited report on private entrepreneurship for 2005-2006, at the time of its preparation, government agencies did not have accurate data on national non-state farms, especially individual (family) and private ones. Nevertheless, national non-State farms, especially private ones, are politically recognized as structures that occupy an important place in the country's economy. The report claims that the results of the National Economic Census "prove this conclusion."

According to the National Economic Census (WEP), in 2004 there were 1.9 million private enterprises - legal entities in the country, accounting for 61% of the total mass of enterprises-legal entities. If you add to them individual (private) assets of other enterprises, for example, unit cooperatives, mixed enterprises, limited liability companies, and

Private farm assets

Source Assessment based on the materials of the State Tax Service of the People's Republic of China.

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Share of national households in GDP (%)

Source: Evaluation by materials of the State Tax Service of the People's Republic of China.

in other enterprises with national capital, this share will reach 72%. In addition, there were more than 40 million individual (family) farms in the country. Their real assets as legal entities amounted to 5.1 trillion rubles. RMB, equal to 28% of the country's total real assets.

Using the latest data, the share of individual and private farms in GDP may reach about 45%. In the previous few years, it was generally concluded that it did not exceed one-third. If we add foreign and" collective " farms, the share of non-state farms, as the authors of the report believe, reached about 65% of total GDP. In other words, the estimate made on the basis of the 2004 EEP data turned out to be significantly lower than the above data of the State Tax Service of the People's Republic of China.

THE REALITY OF TODAY'S CHINA

While the impact of the private sector on GDP education can only be estimated approximately, its real role in various areas of Chinese life can be traced without the use of special tools. At the same time, the social status of private entrepreneurs and their social role are still unclear. The reason for this is quite simple. It seems that the CCP has not yet developed clear and consistent ideological and political positions, as well as the methodology of analysis.

The fact that the private sector has been revived and has become an independent factor in the country's economy and social life is no longer in doubt in China. It is simply impossible to deny the facts. One can, of course, discuss the extent to which the private sector depends on the State and whether it is able to impose its will on the authorities. These questions are not far-fetched. It is difficult to answer them, as individual regions of the country differ significantly from each other. Moreover, the economic power of private entrepreneurs is concentrated in several export production zones. The business community is not organizationally consolidated. The All-China Association of Industrialists and Merchants is essentially a bureaucratic organization that is still loosely connected with current entrepreneurs. It serves as the "drive belt" used by the CPC Central Committee. It is no coincidence that the association carefully calculates how many real entrepreneurs are in its composition and how many of their representatives are included in its governing bodies. The state's policy towards private entrepreneurship is dictated, first of all, by the interests of accelerated economic growth and smoothing out acute social contradictions that can undermine "stability and cohesion" in society.

The socio-political positions of private entrepreneurs are another matter. Are they an independent social stratum of Chinese society? This question has not yet received a clear answer. His search is not accompanied by a public discussion, but the fact that he goes, is not in doubt.

In the context of China, the preparation of a response to it is burdened by the recent tragic past. The calls for uncompromising class struggle and the corresponding long-term actions left a deep imprint on the memory of the party and society. Concern for maintaining "class purity" remains the real policy of the party. It is no coincidence that in 2007, democratic parties and organizations were banned from forming their own cells in the army. The army was and should remain the combat weapon of the Chinese Communist Party, under its watchful control and undivided leadership.

Deng Xiaoping also expressed an ambiguous attitude towards private entrepreneurship. He supported the pioneering businessmen. At the same time, in 1985, he said: "If we have any new bourgeoisie, it will mean that we have really turned off on the wrong path." ¹⁰ In 1992, he repeated: "If you do not pay attention to the first signs of bourgeois liberalization, then misfortune will happen." ¹¹

From the publications devoted to private entrepreneurs, which were repeatedly cited above, it clearly follows that in the early 2000s this segment of the population turned into a special economic and social community. However, such a conclusion is not directly formulated, although solid factual material has been collected and summarized for it. There is no conclusion, since its formulation would be incompatible with the concept of "three representative offices" - advanced productive forces, the overwhelming majority of the people, and advanced culture, put forward by Jiang Zemin and enshrined in the policy documents of the CPC and the state.

Nevertheless, the publication of extensive factual materials means that the discussion about the revival and existence of a social stratum of private entrepreneurs in the country has become a reality in today's China. Moreover, the society cannot help but reflect on the reasons for the emergence of a complex of acute socio-political and economic problems in the country. Why, for example, the party and the state, nurturing for many years a private entrepreneur-

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However, it was only at the end of the 10th five-year plan (2001-2005) and the beginning of the 11th five - year plan (2006-2007) that they came to the conclusion that it was necessary to solve urgent problems that caused the difficult financial situation of the multi-million masses of the population, especially the peasantry.

Since the 16th Congress of the Communist Party of China (2002), the highest authorities of the Party and the State have made important social and economic decisions on employment, ensuring a minimum income, developing social security and social insurance systems, reducing public spending on medical care, education, and other issues. Of course, it is impossible to expect a radical change in the situation that has developed over the decades immediately after the adoption of certain resolutions. Only the first steps have been taken to implement them. It is important that the decisions of the Congress and subsequent plenums of the CPC Central Committee gave an impetus to the beginning of studying and understanding the real problems and contradictions of the country.

The accumulated material on the state of society and the state, its economy and development problems has already provided for the emergence of fundamentally different points of view regarding the country's social problems. So, the supporters of one of them came up with the concept that a "middle social stratum", a "middle-income stratum", has emerged in China¹². It is even said that its small scale "does not favor social stability", limits the state's resistance to various kinds of risks, etc. ¹³ In the Report on the Study of the modern social structure of China, a special section is devoted to the results of studying the "middle social stratum". Private entrepreneurs are allocated to a special social stratum. It is described as a product of a "natural historical process" and "an important component of China's social structure" ^.14

Proponents of opposing views categorically deny such conclusions ¹⁵. For example, sociologist Zhang Houyi writes that" the rise of a layer of private entrepreneurs "easily causes people to associate with the "national bourgeois class". Meanwhile, the conditions of production, the environment, and their social affiliations are "radically different." ¹⁶ This is absolutely true. The differences are indeed profound. The authorities sought to destroy the national bourgeoisie. The authorities welcome modern private entrepreneurs in every possible way.

Other authors take a slightly different point of view: China is too poor a country, so it is impossible to approach the analysis of its social structure in the image and likeness of developed countries. However, not everyone agrees with this approach. They write, for example, that the financial assets of the" Chinese gentlemen of the rich " reached 1.59 trillion. United States dollars. Their number is only 320 thousand people. However, according to this indicator, China is on the 2nd place in the Asia-Pacific region. The average wealth of this group of rich people reaches $ 5 million. The wealthier group is only found in Hong Kong ¹⁷.

A rather interesting point of view has spread, according to which private entrepreneurs as a special social stratum of the population in China simply do not exist18. Entrepreneurs are part of the management stratum consisting of senior government officials, factory directors, high-ranking managers and entrepreneurs. You can't discuss it publicly. It represents, in fact, the official ideological position of the Communist Party of China, based on the concept of "three representative offices", included in its charter.

Who will be right in the historical perspective: Deng Xiaoping or Jiang Zemin? China is trying to answer this question right now.

¹ 2006-2007 nian: Zhongguo shehui singshi fengxi yui yuce zongbaolao (1) (Summary report with analysis and forecast of the social situation in China for 2006-2007) - http://china.com.cn/info/07shxs/node 7646555.htm

² Zhongguo renmin yu laodong wenti baogao N 8 (Report N 8 on Population and Labor Issues in China) - Beijing: Shehui kesue wensiang chubanshe, 2007. - E 024.

³ Laodongbaozhang bu fabu dangqian laodongli shichang gong qu zhuangkuang fenxi baogao (Ministry of Labor and Social Security publishes a report on the labor supply and demand situation) - http://www.lm.gov.cn/gb/employment/2007-06/13/content 182085.htm

⁴ Siying qiyezhu jieceng cengzhangde xin jieduan (A new stage in the formation of the private entrepreneur class) - 2006 nian: Zhongguo shehui singshi fengxi yui yuce (2006: analysis and forecast of the social situation in China) - http://china.com.cn/zhuanti/2006-01/19/content6095866.htm

⁵ 2005 nian quanguo laodong zhenyi anjian chuli qingkuang (Situation with the resolution of labor conflicts in the country in 2005) - http://www.molss.gov.cn/gb/ywzn/2006-06/08/content_119054.htm

⁶ Mining jingji da fazhan kuajin xin shiqi (Private sector development has entered a new stage). - Zhongguo minying jingji fazhan baogao. N 3 (2005 - 2006) - http://www.pishu.cn/pishu/jj/200609/695.html

⁷ Fei gong jingji: jai xiwang zhong dengdai (Private Sector: Hopes and Expectations) - http://china.com.cn/news/txt/2007-03/14/content_7959286.htm

⁸ Mining jingji da fazhan ...

⁹ Ibidem.

^{Deng Xiaoping.} 10 Building socialism with Chinese characteristics. Articles and speeches, Moscow, Paleya Publ., 1997, p. 243.

¹¹ Ibid., p. 401.

¹² See, for example: Shui shi zhongjian jieceng - (Who is the middle layer made up of) - http://china.com.cn/zhuanti/2005/txt/2002-02/04/content_5104637.htm

¹³ Zhongguo shehui jieceng jiegou yu xiangdaihua jiashe jincheng hai bu xiang sniing (The structure of China's social strata is not yet in line with the modernization process) - http://china.com.cn/zhuanti2005/ txt/2002-02/06/content_5105117.htm

¹⁴ Dangdai Zhongguo shehui jieceng jiegou yanjiu baogao (Report on the study of the modern social structure of China) http://china.com.cn/zhuanti2005/node_5103458.htm

¹⁵ See, for example: Mei you zhongjian jieceng, du shi laogong jieceng (There is no middle layer, everyone is a layer of workers) - http://china.com.cn/review/txt/2006-11/15/content_7361226.htm

¹⁶ Xin shiji xin jieduan de Zhongguo siying qiyezhu jieceng (China's Private Entrepreneurs Layer at a New Stage in the New century) - http://china.com.cn/info/07shxs/txt/2007-01/17/content_76675 22.htm

¹⁷ Zhongguo furen caifu zonge da 1.59 wanyi mei yuan weiju yataidiqu di eg (The financial condition of the rich in China reached 1.59 trillion US dollars, taking 2nd place in the Asia-Pacific region) - http://china.com.cn/news/txt/2006-10/13/content_7236946.htm

^{Li Lulu.} 18 Shehui jieceng jiegou (Social Structure of Society). - Zhongguo shehui jieceng jiegou yanjiu baogao, 2005 (Report on the study of the social structure of China, 2005). - Beijing: Zhongguo renmin daxue chubanshe - http://www.china.com.cn/chinese/zhuanti/shfz/1017653.htm

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