La Cina e la crescita lenta

Nella Cina continentale le disuguaglianze e le tensioni politico-sociali sono diventate un problema pressante di stabilità interna a lungo termine.
La vertiginosa crescita economica degli ultimi decenni convince sempre meno milioni di cinesi della classe media che non hanno avuto accesso alla redistribuzione della ricchezza, tanto da far riconsiderare a Pechino i suoi obiettivi economici e politici nel medio periodo.

The central priority for the Chinese government is no longer simply about economic growth. Rather, the chief challenge is dealing with the sociopolitical tensions and inequalities that are products of that growth. On these two fronts, the Wen administration record has been far less than stellar. Moreover, facing the unprecedented ferocity of public opinion, the government is increasingly having its feet held to the fire on issues of social equality and quality of life...

... After 35 years of breathless expansion of the economy, the growth story is less compelling for the Chinese public. Growth alone is no longer the panacea that papers over structural problems or ensures political legitimacy of the regime.

Why? Because the Chinese public, particularly the rising middle class, has started to notice that for all the talk of the Chinese economic miracle, they have not miraculously grown wealthy. Some have indeed become obscenely rich, which only serves to reinforce the sentiment that the system is tilted towards the few and stacked against the many. Adding fuel to the fire is that those who have been blessed by the growth miracle happen to be the political class itself or just one degree removed...

... But it is the nearly 3,000 delegates of the NPC who broadly represent the establishment that has disproportionately benefited from China's economic pie. Of the thousands of delegates, 70 of the richest have a combined net worth of $90 billion, according to Bloomberg. To put that figure in context, it translates into more than $1 billion per delegate, while the average urban income is just $3,500 in 2011...