In August, a 2021 speech by President Xi Jinping was published by the Communist Party journal Qiushi which stressed that “promoting the common prosperity of all the people is not only a long-term but also a realistic task, which can neither be urgent nor wait, but must be placed in a more important position”.

Common prosperity is already included in the ruling Communist Party’s constitution, but the speech increased expectations that further emphasis will be placed on the initiative during the 20th party congress.

But the increase, which has included regulations aimed at private firms, tycoons and celebrities, has exacerbated concerns by foreign investors about the business environment and preferential treatment for state-owned enterprises.

There are also concerns that moves to cut cost-of-living pressures will come at the expense of businesses, and that more aggressive steps might be taken against the private sector, including reining in the so-called disorderly expansion of capital.

Some of China’s most influential economists have also warned that a heavy-handed or invasive approach to pursuing common prosperity could backfire, and that more market-oriented reforms are needed.

The push for common prosperity has slowed this year after Beijing shifted economic focus to drive up growth from risk control, with details not mentioned in the government work report in March.

“We still emphasise that there should be differences, since if you want a society to advance, differences are necessary, only when there are differences, can you have momentum and motivation,” Han added.

“Only by constantly making the cake bigger and cultivating the motivation to make the cake bigger, can there be a real material basis for common prosperity in the future.”

Han added that common prosperity does not mean “killing the rich to help the poor”, while more efforts should be made to shore up the confidence of the private sector to encourage more investment.

“It is still necessary to provide good social, public opinion, policy and internet environments for the non-public economy,” he said.

Beijing is keen to reduce the gap between the incomes of urban and rural residents from its current level of around 2.6 times to less than two, but this is already set to be “an arduous task”, said Han.

Common prosperity also involves fairer access to better public services, including education, medical care and food.

China is aiming to improve its basic public services to a level on par with mid-ranking developed economies by 2050, according to Han.

Beijing has set a target to become a “great modern socialist country” by the middle of the 21st century, with common prosperity “basically achieved” for its 1.4 billion people.

“Basically achieving means it will still not be high-level,” said Han,

“As long as common prosperity is not achieved, the modernisation with Chinese characteristics will not be realised, at least not in a comprehensive way.”