Published on November 9, 2009 at 11:42 PM
The Chinese are also trying to change their health care system, but as the United States tries to extend insurance to all, "China is simply attempting to provide a modicum of coverage for its people," Reuters reports. The Chinese are also trying to stop the hospital system's "reliance on peddling drugs to earn revenue. … One illness can ruin a Chinese family, driving everyone — from well-paid white collar employees at foreign firms to migrant construction workers and hard-scrabble farmers — to save around 40 percent of household income for a rainy day."
Chinese economists argue that lowering costs could allow the Chinese to spend more of their disposable income and ease tensions with Washington over the trade deficit (Hornby, 11/8).