The Standing Committee of the Communist Party of Jiangsu province has approved an ambitious programme to double income for residents and improve their sense of happiness and satisfaction. At a meeting on 20 June, senior party officials agreed that doubling people’s income and improving their sense of happiness should be the guiding principles of future development. To that extent, the increase in individual incomes should reflect the growth of the economy and the improvement in productivity.

Referring to salaries and other income derived from private assets and business operations, the party officials called upon governments at grass-root levels to take measures to ensure ‘a rapid and real increase in people’s income and living standards’.