Page 35 - Chinese Woman Living and Working

22 DAVID S.G.GOODMAN
development of the collective and private sectors of the economy. By 1997, 32 per cent
of the province’s Gross Value of Industrial Production (GVIO) was produced by the state
sector, all of which was in heavy industry, compared to a national average of 25.5 per
cent. The derivation of 37.1 per cent of provincial GVIO was from the collective (or local
government) sector of the economy, based predominantly on coal industry support activities
and by-products, compared to a national average of 38.1 per cent. Production of 17.9 per
cent of GVIO came nationally from the private sector of the economy, whereas in
Shanxi a much higher 26.8 per cent of provincial GVIO came from the private sector,
with production based in the new technologies, foodstuffs and textiles (‘Shanxi Jianhang’
1996:9). In 1997, only 4.1 per cent of GVIO was derived from the foreign-funded sector
9
of the economy, compared to a national average of 18.5 per cent. In 1998, industrial
production was 47.5 per cent of GDP in Shanxi, agricultural production was 13 per cent
of GDP, whilst the retail and other service sectors were (and remain) dominated by
private entrepreneurs (Shanxi tongji nianjian 1998:19).
Two hundred and seventy-nine members of the provincial and local elite were
interviewed in Shanxi Province during the period 1996–98. Although it would be hard to
argue that those selected for interview were statistically representative or randomly
chosen, interviewees were drawn from all over the province, and from a variety of
industries, occupations and types of location. Of those interviewed, 54 were leading
cadres and 225 were identified as members of the ‘new rich’—the essential leaders of
economic reform in the province.
The category of the new rich is defined by position in the economy, as well as by
wealth and patterns of expenditure (Robison and Goodman 1996a; esp. Robison and
Goodman 1996b:1–16). In particular, in the China of the 1990s it included all those
entrepreneurs who had benefited from the changed economic environment of the reform
era to develop new types of enterprises. While large numbers of these new rich were
owner-operators from the private sector, the concept also includes managers of various
kinds from different parts of the economy, including a few in the private sector, who,
although they may often own equity in the enterprise they manage, also gain their status
from a position of leadership. It even includes managers in the state sector of the economy
who had reformed the enterprises for which they were responsible to take advantage of
the new economic environment. However, the majority of managers among the ranks of
the new rich were to be found in collective (urban and rural), equity-based and foreign-
funded enterprises, many of which had developed from originally private enterprises. 10
While many are far wealthier, a convenient guideline is to expect members of the new
rich to receive a monthly income at least equivalent to the average annual income per
capita in their locality. In Shanxi this would indicate that members of the new rich had an
income in excess of 60,000 yuan RMB a year during 1998.
Table 1.1 provides summary information on those leading cadres and members of the
new rich who were interviewed by levels of administration (for cadres), category of
enterprise (for members of the new rich), and by gender. As Table 1.1 indicates, those
interviewed were overwhelmingly male. Unsurprisingly, and in keeping with the
expected gender difference, very few of the leading cadres were women: only 2 of the 54
interviewed. As a regular practice, the provincial committee of the CCP includes amongst