Time for China's have-nots to share success

Economic and social stability are expected to be the main topics during the National People’s Congress NPC next week, when Chinese lawmakers will announce policies aimed at promoting citizens’ well-being and encouraging consumption.

The measures may include efforts to boost rural incomes, create jobs and promote private capital investment and consumption, several China economists have noted. All that sounds very encouraging, but the individuals who comprise the congress are not inspiring much confidence among the have-nots whose interests they are supposedly looking out for.

Indeed, the group mostly consists of billionaires, bureaucrats and film stars. When it comes to China’s elite, “the richer they are, the more...