The middle class in China's society is likely to reach 40 percent of its work force within 20 years, if it maintains the current yearly growth rate of 1 percent, said a Chinese expert at the Second China-Europe Senior Forum on Government Management held Beijing Wednesday.

Lu Xueyi, a professor of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences (CASS) told Xinhua China's middle class now only made up 20 percent, and 42.9 percent of the whole work force is in the agricultural sector.

China has yet to build a more reasonable social class structure featuring with middle class making up the majority, said Lu. When a society's middle class reaches 40 percent, the society will enjoy relatively stable political and economic conditions, a good social order and a harmonious society.

Lu suggested China deepen reform, improve the innovation of policies to gradually make the social class structure adapted to the current social development, he said.

Over 200 officers and scholars from China and Europe participated in the three-day forum which focused on the innovation of social management. The forum was co-sponsored by China National School of Administration and the European Institute of Public Administration.

(Xinhua News Agency September 15, 2005)