Opinion | What Beijing must do to get Covid-wary Chinese consumers to spend more and save less
- Pity that some ‘common prosperity’ ideas have yet to gain traction as Covid-19 has exposed holes in China’s social welfare and dented people’s incomes
- To get consumption to return and avoid permanent economic scarring, Beijing must do more to boost the social safety net and incomes

Interpreting common prosperity in this way was extreme, especially given Beijing’s long-standing hostility to anything that smacks of “welfarism”. Official explanations of common prosperity reiterated this stance, quoting President Xi Jinping as saying that “the government cannot take on everything” and that China should “not aim too high or go overboard with social security”. It is difficult to interpret that as a siren call for socialism.
It is a pity, for society but also for the economy, that some of the ideas behind common prosperity continue to struggle to gain traction in China. If improving access to public services and raising incomes is socialism, then China is not nearly socialist enough.
This is an inadequacy that was likely to be exposed – if not already from published statistics – as the Covid-19 wave spreads.