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ROAD TO AFFLUENCE
Chen Donglin, a research fellow with the Beijing-based Institute of Contemporary China Studies, said China's perception of "affluence" has changed with the country's economic development.
The Chinese character for "affluence", or "fuyu", is formed by components meaning "having a full stomach" and "having foods and clothes."
Affluence was only the right of a privileged few before the founding of the New China in 1949.
Chen said, "Chinese people cannot realize a common prosperity without the establishment of the socialist system, which is proved by thousands of years of history (of the feudal and slavery systems) before 1949."
China had experienced three stages on the road to common prosperity, he said.
-- From 1949 to 1965, farmers were encouraged to "become better off through one's own labor" and the government promoted "collective prosperity".
-- From 1966 to 1976 when the country was ravaged by the Cultural Revolution, "personal affluence", or building up one's own family fortunes, was strictly forbidden.
-- After China's reform and opening-up in 1978, the chief architect of the country's reform Deng Xiaoping called for "allowing and encouraging some people and areas to get rich first," which was leading to common prosperity and would ultimately realize a moderately prosperous society.
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