Not long ago, Hong Kong residents used to go shopping in neighboring cities such as Shenzhen and Guangzhou on the Chinese mainland. But today, Shenzhen residents are flocking to Hong Kong to buy necessities, including food, because of high inflation, says an article in China Youth Daily. Excerpts:

Shenzhen residents may be saving some money by buying goods in Hong Kong. But these savings will offset only a small portion of the losses they are suffering because of the falling value of money on the mainland.

According to Sheng Laiyun, spokesman for the National Bureau of Statistics, the rising consumer price index has not only reduced the value of money, but also made the life of the low-income people more difficult. Many low-income households cannot make ends meet and are falling back into poverty.

For some time, some officials kept denying that the rate of inflation was high. They even said a little inflation was the inevitable result of the government policy to boost domestic demand. Prices have to rise to stimulate domestic demand, they said. But should the common people be forced to carry the burden of the fast growth of the domestic market?

Prices of goods, including essentials, have shot up because there is excessive currency in the market. But this does not mean that the common man is earning more. On the contrary, it is worsening the already uneven distribution of income, making life for the common people more troublesome.

Fortunately, the 12th Five-Year Plan (2011-2015) has abandoned the earlier method of boosting economic growth.

The new policy is to make efforts to increase people's income and expedite economic growth simultaneously.

And if the proportion of people's income in national wealth is really raised, Shenzhen residents may not have to buy goods in Hong Kong anymore.

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(China Daily 11/15/2010 page9)