Changing China: How Beijing’s crackdowns are impacting business

The slew of announcements of tough new regulations and the stringent enforcement of existing rules have targeted many of the country’s biggest companies.

As we explained in the first part of this series on the recent developments in China, these measures are part of President Xi Jinping’s centrepiece policy initiative, known as “common prosperity”.

The phrase is not a new one in China. It has been around since the 1950s, when it was used by the founding leader of the People’s Republic of China Mao Zedong.

The sharp escalation of the term’s use in the year that the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) also celebrates its 100th anniversary has been seen as a signal that it is now central to government policy.

Key to the common prosperity policies are Beijing’s attempts to narrow the huge wealth gap between the nation’s richest and poorest citizens.

It is an issue that some would argue both endangers the rise of the world’s second largest economy and poses an existential threat to the CCP.