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This is the 2021 Annual Report （the Blue Book of China’s Society） from the Research Group on “The Analysis and Forecast of China’s Social Development”，issued by Chinese Academy of Social Sciences （CASS）. Researchers and scholars from various research institutions，universities and government departments report on statistical data released by the government or social science surveys. This project is organized by the Institute of Sociology at Chinese Academy of Social Sciences.

Based on the main theme of social development in the new era，this book analyzes the general situation of economic and social development in 2021，and points out that there still exists significant amount of problems and challenges. According to the report，with the start of the new journey of building a modern socialist country in an all-round way and the beginning of the 14th five year plan for national economic and social development，social development will enter into a new stage. Over the last year，new steps have been taken in promoting the common prosperity of all people. The central government supported the construction of a pilot program for common prosperity in Zhejiang Province and issued the Opinions of the CPC Central Committee and the State Council on Supporting the High-quality Development and Construction of Common Prosperity in Zhejiang，which formulated the first blueprint for promoting the common prosperity of all people. The employment situation across the country was basically stable，the number of new jobs exceeded expectations，and employment quality and working conditions were further improved. The income of urban and rural residents increased significantly compared with that in 2020，and the growth rate was higher than that of GDP in the same period. The income growth of rural residents continued to be faster than that of urban residents，and the income gap between urban and rural residents continued to narrow. New achievements have been made in the areas of basic public services，urban and rural infrastructure construction，and people’s livelihood and social security. The strategy of integrating urban and rural development and the Rural Revitalization was launched in an all-round way，and agricultural and rural modernization was promoted. The modernization of social governance has entered a new stage of the overall security system construction，and the construction of ecological civilization has entered a new era focusing on “carbon peak and carbon neutralization”. The report also points out that while the overall economic and social development is stable，it also faces many difficulties and challenges. In 2022，the 20th National Congress of the Communist Party of China will be held，which will play a key role in leading China’s socialist modernization in the future. However，the uncertainty of the international environment is still severe，and its impact on China’s economic and social development will be significant. We should implement more effective employment policies，constantly broaden employment channels and continuously improve the quality of employment. We should also continue to promote the reform in areas such as education，medical care，elderly care and community services. We should further promote innovation in social governance and better coordinate social development and social security. It is also important to push forward the construction of common prosperity，build an income distribution system that reflects efficiency and promotes fairness，and further narrow income gaps. We should further promote the achievements in poverty alleviation，consolidate its effective connection with rural revitalization，promote the integrated development of urban and rural areas with the focus of constructing people-centered urbanization，so as to push forward the process of common prosperity.

Based on the topics above，this book，on the one hand，builds the foundation of discussion on reliable survey data and statistics；and on the other hand，offers insightful opinions on various topics. There are four parts of this book. The general report and 18 individual reports provide discussion on the comprehensive analysis of China’s social and economic development in 2021，coupled with forecast of future development. The general report discusses the overall situation of social and economic development in 2021，and points out some significant problems and challenges ahead. The second part includes 6 reports on various issues，which examine problems such as the residents’ income and consumption，employment situation，education reform，social security and social safety. The third part includes 7 survey reports，which provide data on the quality of China’s social development，the development of voluntary services，the development of new business forms and the employment situation among youth，the employment and living conditions of college students，the fertility intention among urban and rural residents，and the satisfaction level of urban consumers. The fourth part of this book has 5 reports on special topics，which include the internet-based public opinion，food and drug safety，the construction of environmental and ecological civilization，the development of elderly care，and the progress of Rural Revitalization Strategy. In general，each chapter of this book gives both insightful and detailed policy recommendation.