Chinese President Xi Jinping has called for a push for “common prosperity” through regulation and distribution of wealth. At a meeting of the Communist Party’s Central Committee for Financial and Economic Affairs on August 17, the government sought to “strengthen the regulation and adjustment of high income, protect legal income, reasonably adjust excessive income, and encourage high-income groups and enterprises to give back to society more,” state-run Xinhua news agency reported.

The meeting also deliberated on other goals such as expanding the size of the middle-income group, promoting social fairness and justice by prohibiting illicit income, and increasing the earnings of the low-income group.

While China has focussed on economic growth in the past few decades, social equality has taken a back seat. A report by economist Thomas Piketty published in 2019 -- Income inequality is growing fast in China and making it look more like the US -- showed that the top 10 percent of China’s population earned 41 percent national income in 2015 as against 27 percent in 1978.

The bottom 50 percent, which had the same income share as the top 10 percent in 1978, saw a 2.7 fold drop in income to 15 percent in 2015. The share of income of the middle 40 percent during the same period remained roughly stable, the report said.

As part of the road map to achieve “common prosperity,” the leaders at the meeting pledged to help people enhance their education qualifications and improve housing supply, elderly care, and medical system, Xinhua reported, adding that the emphasis will be on ensuring economic growth and curbing financial risks.

As a pilot project, the government will focus on the eastern province of Zhejiang, which is a hub for the private sector and home to Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. The provincial government will encourage workers to get better wages, firms to provide more dividends to shareholders, and farmers to imbibe entrepreneurship strategies.

Meanwhile, stocks of a number of companies were battered over speculations regarding new rules and regulations last week. Among them are vaping companies, chemical companies, growth hormone firms and distillers.

(Edited by : Shoma Bhattacharjee)