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Opinion | With common prosperity, China can avoid the excesses of unrestrained Western-style capitalism
- China and the West face similar challenges – widening income disparities, powerful Big Tech firms and deepening societal divides
- The difference is that China is tackling them head-on as it transforms into a modern socialist economy
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The year 2021 marked a new paradigm for the Chinese economy. China is shifting from a model championing gross domestic product growth above all, to one emphasising efficiency, consumer welfare and protection, climate-change mitigation and environmental protection.
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Chinese companies’ growth will be less unbridled, and more regulated and monitored. The goal of building a global manufacturing powerhouse has evolved into the pursuit of techno-nationalism. China’s leaders believe their country is on the verge of a transformation into a truly “modern socialist economy”.
China is not alone. Despite bilateral tensions, China and the West face similar challenges. Both confront increasing income disparities, the boundless growth of Big Tech firms, and a deepening divide between elites and the grass roots. But, unlike the rest of the world, China has decided to tackle these issues head on.
Over the course of the year, the Chinese government took numerous major steps to regulate and discipline leading corporations, from consumer-facing platform companies to education firms. The grounds were antitrust, data security and social equality – sometimes all three at once.
Even as these sweeping moves generated much overwrought commentary in the international press, they merely scratched the surface of the deeper transformation. The changes represent a “coming of age” for the Chinese economy, signalling that people matter more than aggregate numbers.
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‘Socialism with Chinese characteristics’ explained
‘Socialism with Chinese characteristics’ explained
Under the new rubric of “common prosperity”, the official goal for the coming decade is to create conditions for the growth of a large, prosperous middle class, better opportunities for everyone, and more “empathetic” behaviour from Chinese companies.
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