Letters | Can China pull off ‘common prosperity’ after its rocket-launch economic rise?
- Readers write about China’s wealth redistribution plan, the crackdown on ‘996’ overwork and TikTok’s mental health resources
This isn’t a new idea; it was first mentioned by Mao Zedong in the 1950s, when he envisioned all citizens having an equal opportunity to be wealthy. The idea of wealth here could be more than financial; it could also allude to spiritual and cultural wealth.
It would seem that this development model has played out in two distinct phases, comparable to a rocket launch, with an initial burst of power before cruising on momentum to continue a trajectory.
The first phase involved increasing production efficiency, capturing market share and achieving economic uplift. During this period, regulations were relaxed, entrepreneurs were encouraged to explore new avenues of wealth creation, and the economy expanded at an average rate of 9.5 per cent over 40 years.
But this also had adverse effects. The World Bank estimated that as an upper-middle-income country, China had a poverty rate of 24 per cent in 2016, measured at a poverty line of US$5.50 a day. Wealth disparity is a harbinger of social unrest and can affect national stability.