Adviser urges balanced approach in quest for goal

A political adviser has urged the nation to maintain a balance between efficiency and fairness in the process of promoting common prosperity.

"Valuing efficiency over fairness will result in polarization and class solidification, which is not in line with the principle of common prosperity and also deviates from socialism. Likewise, to value fairness over efficiency will result in egalitarianism and may even cause widespread poverty," said Gao Peiyong, vice-president of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences.

Gao, who is a member of the 13th National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference, said the country has learned lessons from the past.

"It should create an environment that respects hard work, innovation, knowledge and talent－an environment that would allow most people to become richer through hard work, running businesses honestly, and through innovation. It should pave the way for ordinary people to change their lives through hard work," he said.

"We are not engaged in 'absolute egalitarianism' or 'raising lazy people'. China has eradicated absolute poverty (in 2020), which is a practical step and the result of the pursuit of common prosperity." He noted that it will take time to achieve common prosperity because China is such a large country.

"Common prosperity", a concept that emphasizes greater equality, has become a buzzword since the country eradicated absolute poverty. Meanwhile, last year, it finally established a "moderately prosperous society in all respects".

The concept has been repeatedly stressed at high-profile political meetings, as policy makers look to achieve triple-tier distribution of wealth in a bid to better balance efficiency and fairness, and foster common prosperity.

They aim to expand the middle-income group and create an olive-shaped income distribution pattern.

"The next step is to make a bigger cake and distribute it properly by promoting high-quality development, raising incomes, increasingly reducing the gap in distribution, and firmly avoiding polarization," Han Wenxiu, an official with the Central Committee for Financial and Economic Affairs, told a recent news conference.

Meanwhile, during a recent speech in Shenzhen, Guangdong province, Zheng Yongnian, a professor of political science at the Chinese University of Hong Kong (Shenzhen), said he believed China will be able to attain common prosperity because of the strength of its political system and its accumulated wealth and experience.

The United States and Europe cannot contain the development of China because capital cannot ignore China as a huge market, Zheng added. He noted that the key to China attaining common prosperity is to properly handle the relationship between business, government and wider society.

In June, the eastern province of Zhejiang, a front-runner in curbing poverty and a manufacturing hub known for its vibrant private sector, was designated as a pilot zone for promoting common prosperity.

The province has not recorded any impoverished counties since 1997.