About 30 years ago, the late paramount leader Deng Xiaoping smashed egalitarianism by uttering the famous slogan 'Let some people get rich first', thus unleashing a revolution of energy and entrepreneurship that has made the mainland into an economic powerhouse.
The slogan was an integral part of Deng's most important legacies and still has profound implications. President Hu Jintao and Premier Wen Jiabao intend to launch another revolution, aimed at spreading the wealth and allowing the poor and disadvantaged to share more economic benefits. They want this to be one of the most important parts of their legacy - converting 30 years of only economic growth into a pursuit of twin goals - economic progress and parity.
They will face strong resistance from the various interest groups enriched thanks to Deng.
Hu and Wen began to push for parity soon after they came to power in late 2002, but fierce debates both within and outside the Communist Party leadership have yielded no concrete results.
With retirement two years away, Hu and Wen are mounting their final and most ambitious attempt to redistribute the nation's wealth.
Other factors have also necessitated the push. The mainland's economy has already become the third largest in the world and is set to overtake Japan's as the second largest this year. Meanwhile, widespread social discontent over the ever-widening income gap has become a clear and present danger.