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China’s Communist Party
OpinionComment
Adrian Ho
Adrian Ho

Opinion | Could Beijing’s ‘common prosperity’ model work for Hong Kong?

  • Hong Kong must act quickly to reduce income inequality and the poverty rate, provide affordable housing and ensure fair competition
  • In doing so, the city could serve as an example of what is achievable when capitalism extends beyond just generating wealth for a few

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An elderly woman collects cardboard boxes on a street in Mong Kok in February 2020. It is no longer acceptable to protect businesses while allowing those who have worked hard their entire lives, but still do not have a basic standard of living, to continue to suffer. Photo: K. Y. Cheng
Adrian Ho
Hong Kong, a cosmopolitan metropolis with one of the world’s most dynamic economies, brands itself as “Asia’s world city”. It is demoralising to witness how the poverty rate in this renowned global financial centre continues to rise year after year.
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The poverty rate was 21.4 per cent in 2019 without taking into account social security allowances and government relief subsidies, and 9.2 per cent when government interventions are factored in.

The wealth disparity in Hong Kong is believed to have reached a 45-year high in 2017; the richest 10 per cent were found to be earning 44 times more than the poorest 10 per cent in 2016. This inequality is anticipated to have grown as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic, which has disproportionately affected the poor.
If Hong Kong is to avoid transforming into a stratified society, which could result in increased social and political instability, this bleak reality must be addressed. We should thus reflect on whether Beijing’s policies towards establishing “common prosperity” could be the solution to Hong Kong’s poverty problem.

Mao Zedong introduced the concept “common prosperity” in the 1950s. Achieving common prosperity entails the equitable distribution of wealth and resources, with no group benefiting unduly at the expense of others. This demands universal access to fundamental services such as education, health care, transport, and other necessities, as well as job opportunities.

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From Deng Xiaoping’s introduction of market reforms to Chinese President Xi Jinping’s socialist world view, successive leaders have had different approaches to achieving common prosperity.

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