A SENIOR Chinese leader has urged well-off private entrepreneurs to help their poor fellow countrymen to narrow the gap between the rich and the poor and to reach the goal of common prosperity.
Li Ruihuan, a Politburo member and chairman of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference, said the rich should be encouraged to make donations to the poor.
'The realisation of common prosperity is the goal of our work,' Mr Li said. 'Letting some people become rich first is the effective way for bringing about the realisation of common prosperity.
'Those who have become rich first should practise and advocate a healthy and civilised lifestyle, be ready to help others and care for others, in addition to continuing their efforts to develop local economy and earn more money.' Mr Li, also a member of the Communist Party's Politburo Standing Committee, said helping the poor demonstrated the 'healthy relations' among people under the socialist system.
According to a Xinhua (New China News Agency) report, Mr Li praised the private enterprises and individuals from Guangzhou who had donated money to sink wells for supplying drinking water in Hotan prefecture in the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region.
Two million yuan (about HK$1.83 million) was donated to sink 100 wells in Hotan. The money has been transferred to Beijing and will soon be passed on to the prefecture's local Government.
