Rural Informatization in China

"China's recent economic growth has expanded industrialization and urbanization, upgraded consumption, increased social mobility, and initiated a shift from an economy based on agriculture to one based on industry and services. However, more than half of China's people still live in rural areas-where average income per capita is less than a third of the urban average. China has adopted a new development paradigm in its 11th Five-Year Plan (covering 2006-11), emphasizing the building of a Harmonious Society (he xie she hui) with more balanced development across regions. The new development paradigm adopts a "scientific view of the development process" that emphasizes sustainable growth and "people-centered." The government has increased its commitment to pro-poor, pro-rural programs, with attention being turned toward relative poverty reduction and narrowing the rural-urban income divide. Informatization-defined as the transformation of an economy and society driven by information and communications technology (ICT)-is increasingly being explored as a way of helping poor people.