BEIJING: China’s leadership has stressed the need to pursue common prosperity and expounded on the term recently. While the term “common prosperity” has sparked interest and attracted attention, it has also caused some misinterpretations from some overseas observers.
Common prosperity, an essential requirement of socialism and a key feature of Chinese-style modernization, aims to create a future where prosperity is shared by everyone in the country.
The following are some misinterpretation and facts regarding China’s pursuit of common prosperity:
— Misinterpretation: Common prosperity in China is egalitarianism. It means “robbing the rich to help the poor.”
Fact: In China, the prerequisite of common prosperity is that the pie must continue to get bigger. It allows some people to become well-off first, who then inspire and help the latecomers.
The protection of legitimate private property has been written into the China’s Constitution, and China will not opt for a robbing-the-rich-for-the-poor approach.
The tenth meeting of the Central Committee for Financial and Economic Affairs has specified policy direction for pursuing common prosperity.
The meeting underlined efforts to properly deal with the relationship between efficiency and fairness, make basic institutional arrangements on income distribution, expand the size of the middle-income group, increase the earnings for the low-income groups, adjust excessive incomes and prohibit illicit income to promote social fairness and justice.
— Misinterpretation: Common prosperity and the encouraged “tertiary distribution” mean that charitable donations could be compulsory. – Agencies
