Mind the gap: narrowing income divide key to realising Xi Jinping's 'Chinese dream'
The government must narrow the divide in living standards over the next five years if it is to realise the president's main political agenda
President Xi Jinping's main political agenda to realise the "Chinese dream" will be at stake if his government fails to implement his social policy to narrow social inequality in the next five years, according to analysts.
In a document released late last week on the draft 13th five-year plan, the Communist Party's leadership said the focus would be on increasing overall living standards and promoting social welfare.
Economists said the policy was an effort to develop a consumption-driven economy, which until recently had relied heavily on the unsustainable model of state-led capital investment and exports to drive growth.
"It is the biggest campaign to promote social equality and narrow the income gap since the start of reforms in the early 1980s," said Ma Guoxian, a political economist at Shanghai University of Finance and Economics.
Ma said the campaign would be a crucial effort by Xi who had put social equality before economic growth in his political agenda.
"President Xi's whole political agenda of the Chinese dream and his legacy will entirely based on whether the government can successfully implement his social policy," Ma said.