Beijing (AFP)

Chinese President Xi Jinping called on his wealthy compatriots to work harder for "common prosperity", and promised an "adjustment" to excessive incomes, in a country where rapid economic growth has widened inequalities.

The standard of living in China has increased considerably since the 1970s. The country is today a gigantic market with hundreds of millions of middle-class consumers, courted by foreign multinationals.

But the differences in wealth are significant.

While China holds the world record for the number of dollar billionaires, the country only officially eradicated absolute poverty last year.

In a meeting devoted to the economy, the Chinese president called for a "reasonable" redistribution of wealth that could "benefit everyone," state media reported on Wednesday.

In the interests of social equity, arrangements must be made to "increase the incomes of low-income groups" and "adjust excessive incomes," Xi Jinping said, according to a report from the meeting.

It is not clear how the Beijing strongman plans to achieve this goal, but his guidelines generally set the tone for the country's priorities for the months to come.

Chinese in a shopping center in Beijing, August 17, 2021 WANG Zhao AFP

The meeting also urged more "equity" in education, as the prohibitive costs of private tutoring are increasingly criticized.

Last month, Beijing tightened the screw on the lucrative education sector it wants to make non-commercial.

The volume of courses will be drastically reduced.

The measure has jostled many Chinese parents, obsessed with the success of their children, and used to enrolling their offspring in a multitude of extracurricular courses, often expensive.

Almost the entire population lived in poverty during the early days of the People's Republic of China in 1949.

But the economic reforms launched at the very end of the 1970s saw the emergence of great fortunes, the then leader, Deng Xiaoping, deeming "normal" in 1984 that some got richer before others.

If the coastal regions, open to international trade, have rapidly modernized, the interior countryside has experienced more laborious growth.

To rectify the situation, the authorities have stepped up initiatives in recent years to identify households in need, distribute subsidies and complete major infrastructure works.

At the end of 2020, China says it has officially eradicated absolute poverty.

© 2021 AFP