Academics at Peking University have concluded that 1 per cent of Chinese own a third of the nation's wealth. It could be just another Chinese statistic that boggles the mind; a reminder that Chairman Mao's greatest legacy has been one of the largest and most rapid accumulations of capital by the few. However, the division of China into haves and have-nots is becoming a political problem: the wealth disparity is making a mockery of President Xi Jinping's attempt to redefine the national purpose with his call for a new political solidarity in pursuit of collective prosperity and national glory, the "Chinese dream."
The slogan began to appear early last year when Mr Xi was appointed to the top job and it is deliberately vague, a patriotic rallying cry to restore China's place among top nations. Military power is part of it but according to the Chinese media, it is also intended to satisfy the personal aspirations of all Chinese people for a better life for all, not just the few. In November, 2012 at the conclusion of the Communist Party National Congress, President Xi first spoke of the China dream as "a dream of the whole nation, as well as of every individual."
Some nations are supposed to have aspirations. It's a way of pressing the national button, a bedrock of sentiment to which politicians appeal when at a loss for better words. Americans have a dream, something to do with freedom and the pursuit of personal happiness. Europeans tend to dream about the bucolic pastures of a lost pre-industrial era. Canadians are probably too embarrassed to publicly dream but President Xi is dreaming with a political purpose. While the leader urges the masses to imagine greatness, he is ruthlessly consolidating power with an anti-corruption drive. Unprecedented in its scope, the President's campaign to end graft has, according to the Communist Party, nailed almost 200,000 officials. A week ago, it bagged an elephant, Zhou Yongkang. The decision to investigate the former head of state security and a former member of China's politburo, the standing committee that runs the country, is dramatic. Mr Zhou was also previously head of China National Petroleum Corporation, an organization that itself is under siege from President Xi's anti-corruption bloodhounds.
At first glance, this looks like good news for ordinary Chinese, the toilers and strivers that the President is addressing with his call to dream of a greater China. With corrupt officials under the cosh, you might imagine that President Xi's new broom would bring more opportunity and greater participation for the masses. Unfortunately, they are being left far behind and there is no sign that greater political participation is part of the dream.
According to a report this week in Caixin Media, Peking University's Institute of Social Science calculates that the Gini co-efficient for household wealth in China has risen from 0.45 in 1995 to 0.73 in 2013. A Gini co-efficient of 0 would mean that every household has the same amount of property, while a co-efficient of 1 would indicate that all wealth is owned by one household. According to the report, the bottom quarter of Chinese households own 1 per cent of the country's wealth while the top 1 per cent own a third of the total assets.
The Peking University study of wealth inequality follows similar studies showing soaring income inequality. A Michigan University study of Chinese household income recently found that the Gini co-efficient had risen from 0.30 in 1980 to 0.55 in 2010 compared with a co-efficient of 0.45 for the U.S. in the same year.
President Xi's anti-corruption campaign is a clever political manoeuvre, and it chimes well with Chinese public anger over graft. But after the show trials of high-ranking party officials and the punishments, the Chinese will be left with their aspirations for personal betterment frustrated. The Chinese People's Congress, the body that rubber-stamps the Chinese government's legislative diktats, contains almost 100 billionaires, tycoons that collectively control wealth totalling some $100-billion, a marriage of wealth and political power that makes the U.S. Congress look humble in comparison. President Xi's anti-corruption drive may knock a few tycoons from their political perches but they will soon be replaced by others. Meanwhile, the wealth of the ordinary Chinese rich continues to flee the dreamworld of President Xi, in favour of more solid value in Vancouver or London real estate.
China does not need a dream; it needs political reform, something less glorious but more likely to deliver long-term stability and capable of quelling popular anger and discontent. If President Xi continues to pander to the 1 per cent, he will soon find his Chinese dream turning to nightmare.