The new social stratum is the first beneficiary of the 30 years of reform and opening up, 36-year-old woman billionaire Liu Yingxia said on Saturday.

Five CPPCC members from the country's "new social stratum" talk with journalists at a press conference on March 8, 2008. The CPPCC interpretation says the new social stratum comprises mainly people from the non-public economy sector and self-employed professionals.

Liu was one of the five CPPCC members, representing the new social stratum, who spoke to journalists at a press conference.

The other four were woman lawyer Liu Hongyu, Dalian Wanda Group board chairman Wang Jianlin, Chuanhua Group board chairman Xu Guanju and investment banker Han Fangming.

The CPPCC interpretation says: "The new social stratum is mainly made up of people from the non-public economy sector and self-employed professionals".

The new social stratum is about 75 million strong and includes individual industrial and commercial households, private entrepreneurs, lawyers, accountants, certified public valuers and tax agents, who contribute nearly one-third of the government's revenue. The figure is likely to increase to 50 per cent by 2010.

"I believe Chinese society will become more affluent in general as more and more people of the new stratum shoulder their social responsibilities," Liu Yingxia said.

"Most of the members in the new social stratum used to be common people," said Wang. "I was a soldier before becoming an entrepreneur, so I don't feel this stratum is divorced from society."

But how are members of the new social stratum expected to function at the CPPCC? Liu Yingxia said: "As a CPPCC member, I cannot speak only for the rich. The gap between the rich and poor is very big in China. The government can shorten the gap by adjusting the revenue, and as entrepreneurs, it's our job to manage our enterprises well, creating more jobs and increasing employees' income."

Xu, who is also chairman of Zhejiang province's Federation of Industry and Commerce, has brought a proposal, "Establishing a Standard for Enterprises' Social Responsibilities", which he believes will facilitate social harmony and healthy development of enterprises.

"As a CPPCC member, it's my responsibility to carry information from the local level to the CPPCC. I will speak for my own group, the middle- and small-sized enterprises, too, (because) they comprise most of the enterprises in China," said Xu.

Not all people in the new social stratum are rich, Liu Hongyu said. The yearly income of 70 percent of the 16,000 lawyers in Beijing was less than 100,000 yuan ($14,060) last year.

"As lawyers we speak on behalf of the people. We have set up a foundation in Beijing to provide legal aid to migrant workers. This time, I have come with a proposal to urge the government to take more effective steps to help those shifted from the Three Gorges Dam area," she said.

Han, who is executive director of TCL group, said he submitted 32 proposals during the five years he served as member of the last CPPCC National Committee, and related departments have already adopted some of them.

"For the new social stratum, undertaking the social responsibilities also include participating in the democratic life," Han said. "Our participation is part of the people's participation."

(China Daily March 10, 2008)