Income and Consumption

Income of Zhejiang residents has been growing rapidly. With an increase of 10.9 percent over the previous year, the average per capita disposable income for urban residents in Zhejiang in 2006 was 18,265 yuan which was 50 percent higher than the national average, and ranked the third among the 31 provinces, municipals under direct jurisdiction of central government, and autonomous regions, and the first among the provinces and autonomous regions for consecutive six years in China. Its average per capita net income for rural residents was 7,335 yuan, increasing by 9.3 percent over the previous year, which was 100 percent higher than the national average and made the province rank the first among the provinces and autonomous regions for 22 years in China.The increase of income continuously improved the living standard of the citizens in the province. The Engel coefficient for urban and rural residents was 32.9 percent and 37.2 percent respectively. In 2006, the average spending of urban residents was 13,349 yuan, and that of rural residents was 5,762 yuan. A marked change has taken place in the consumption structure, with the ratio of expenditure rapidly rising in the range of transport, telecommunications, culture, education, recreation, entertainment and travel. Commodities relating to car, transport, telecommunications, and house have become new hotspots of consumptions by urban and rural residents.

Housing

Housing conditions have improved consistently. In 2006 the per capita living space in Zhejiang increased to 26.4 square meters. The average per capita living space for rural residents has risen to 55.6 square meters. The quality of their houses has improved too.

Social Security

Zhejiang has been improving a social security and aid system serving people of different classes with different level of treatments in both urban and rural areas. The province set up a network of career service markets using the resources of urban and rural areas altogether, covering both areas to meet the coordinated employment requirements. So far, the registered unemployment rate has been controlled below 3.51 percent in urban areas. It also implements policies offering insurance on injuries during work, experimenting to build up a medical insurance system for urban residents, improving the system to provide basic annuity for enterprise employees, and making laborers from rural areas live better, while at the same time, the province makes great efforts to raise the standards of minimum pension for those retired from enterprises, of minimum subsistence allowance for urban and rural residents, of pension for part of preferential families of the disabled or the deceased, and of the minimum salary in enterprises. In 2006, Zhejiang put 24.4 billion yuan fiscal capital in social security system. Farmers whose lands were collected by the government are guaranteed with timely and definite insurance for basic living condition. The coverage of cooperative healthcare in rural area is continuously expanding. By the end of 2006, it has extended to 87 counties, cities, and districts which have rural populations, reaching an enrollment rate of 86 percent.The new type of social aid system is improved in the province. Zhejiang was one of the first provinces in the country to implement a combined minimum subsistence allowance system covering both urban and rural areas, which under dynamic management, guarantees thorough and timely subsistence allowance or compensation for target people. The coverage of collective support has reached 92 percent among target people with lowest living security protection in rural areas such as farmers whose land were required by the government and who cannot live on themselves, and 98 percent among urban residents who cannot get legal duty rear, lost labor ability or have no income for life. The province is the first in the country to completely waive the tuition and extra fees for students during the period of compulsory education. Social welfare and services for the aged are in rapid development.

Medical and Healthcare

The condition of medical and healthcare in Zhejiang is steadily improving. The healthcare network for urban and rural residents has been set up and its capacity to provide comprehensive medical services was further strengthened. In 2006, Zhejiang launched six projects supporting the growth of healthcare services for rural residents, community healthcare facilities, public healthcare system, scientific research and education, hospitals, and traditional Chinese medicine. As the public healthcare system further growing, a system to effectively treat serious contagious diseases was primarily established and in continuous improvement. All the healthcare institutions above county level as well as towns in Zhejiang Province have joined a system to report sudden hygienic problems through Internet, which is under real-time and daily supervision and regulation by disease prevention and control centers of multi-levels. Zhejiang has established a framework of public hygienic emergency management and mechanism which covers all the three levels from the province, municipals, to counties, and issued a Plan of Disposal for Contingent Public Hygienic Events. Community healthcare service witnesses well-linked and coordinated development, as a community healthcare service system which covers the whole province in multi-forms and multi-levels has been primarily set up. Twelve major tasks are running well to provide basic healthcare for rural residents, as well as special care for key groups, and basic hygienic security protection for the whole province. According to the fifth national census, the average life expectance in the province is 74.79 years.