What Should and Should Not Be Learnt from the Chinese Story

The People’s Republic of China (PRC) is currently in the grips of yet ano­ther formulation—“common prosperity”—which was given out by Xi Jinping in a major speech on 17 August 2021, while addressing the 10th meeting of the Central Financial and Economic Affairs Commission, which he himself chairs. It has now begun to spin the institutional wheels of policymaking in the PRC. While the phrase itself is not a new one (repor­tedly first used in 1953), its endorsement from the top leadership at this point is seen as a reassertion of economic and financial control by the Communist Party of China (CPC), and a major policy shift to readjust priorities and tackle the enormous socio-economic imbalances in the current stage. As reported in the PRC’s official media, Xi stressed that the need of the hour was to adhere to a “people-centred development philosophy and promoting common prosperity while pursuing high-quality development.” The earlier Dengist approach of letting some people grow rich first would now give way to “common prosperity,” which was “[A]n essential requirement of socialism and a key feature of Chinese style modernisation.”¹

Against this backdrop, Manoranjan Mohanty’s book China’s Transformation: The Success Story and the Success Trap acquires an even sharper relevance and significance than before. Published in 2018, it takes on a rather prescient hue in the current scenario, offering an extremely insightful critique and speaking to the concerns being generated in the ongoing debates on growth and development in China today.