What does Xi Jinping mean by ‘common prosperity’?

Dr Olivia Cheung (Research Fellow, SOAS China Institute)

Topic

‘Common prosperity’ is now trending as the most popular political buzzphrase in China. In July 2021, Xi Jinping designated Zhejiang Province, his old power base and home to Alibaba, as the national ‘demonstration zone’ for common prosperity. In October 2021, he committed to a rough timeline of turning common prosperity into reality: ‘making solid strides’ by 2025, ‘achieving obvious and substantive progress’ by 2035, and fully attaining the goal by 2049-2050. As the ‘common prosperity action plan’ promised by the National Development and Reform Commission in September 2021 is yet to be released, we are left with few details on what Xi means by ‘common prosperity’ beyond aspirational rhetoric. Some anticipate Xi’s pursuit of ‘common prosperity’ to extract ‘donation’ from private businesses and bring about even harsher regulatory crackdowns. Some dread the introduction of a real estate tax and a revamp of the income tax system. Others believe that the Mao who lives in Xi is finally being coaxed out and thus radical political, economic, and social restructuring will take place, with intensity no less than Mao’s tumultuous Cultural Revolution.

In this talk, I will examine what Xi means by ‘common prosperity’, what he has done and may/will do (and not) to achieve it in practice, and explore how and why. I will analyse the contents of government documents on this subject based on the major frames of reference and benchmarks that Xi adopts, explicitly or implicitly, in crafting his ‘common prosperity’ initiatives. These include: Xi’s very own approach to bureaucratic coordination and poverty alleviation, the Chongqing Model implemented by Bo Xilai from 2008 to 2012 (of which Xi gave a high-profile endorsement in 2010), and Zhejiang’s ‘Fengqiao experience’, which was popularized by Mao Zedong, marginalized by Deng Xiaoping, and now exalted by Xi.

Biography

Olivia Cheung is Research Fellow at the SOAS China Institute, SOAS University of London, where she is working with Steve Tsang on the research project ‘The Political Thought of Xi Jinping’. She is also writing a single-authored book that addresses the interplay of factionalism and ideological conflicts in China’s policy process from Mao through Xi using a new framework – ‘factional model-making’. Her works have appeared in or are forthcoming in the China Quarterly , Asan Forum , Third World Quarterly , South African Journal of International Affairs , St Antony’s International Review , the edited volume Non-Western Global Theories of International Relations (Samantha Cooke ed.), etc.

Previously, she was Teaching Fellow in East Asian Politics and International Relations and Course Director for the MA in International Politics and East Asia at the University of Warwick. She earned her DPhil in Politics as a Swire Scholar at the University of Oxford, where she also obtained her MPhil in Politics as a Rhodes Scholar.

Organiser: SOAS China Institute

Contact email: sci@soas.ac.uk