Dr Ashwani Mahajan
IF you believe that in the Rajya Sabha or Lok Sabha of India, rich people are in very big number, then you might feel solace in this piece of information that in China, in spite of communism, rich people are enjoying more power and are expanding their business with the help of this power. It is to be noted that around two decades ago, the leaders of China, while making changes in their economic policy, allowed private investments (both Chinese domestic and foreign investments) in their country and thus production system, which was exclusive monopoly of the government, now were also shared by private investors.
According to the Forbes list of billionaires, out of 1226 millionaires of the world, 133 are from China. It is to be noted that according to this list, only 48 millionaires are from India though their assets are little more than that of Chinese billionaires. Number of billionaires is not only higher in China than in India, and this number is continuously increasing too. The increase in the number of billionaires is not the only concern, but their influence on the governance of the country is also increasing continually.
After the violent communist revolution in China, the economic system of China underwent a big change under the leadership of Mao. The entire agricultural land was seized by the government and collective farming was adopted in the country. The factory production came under the direct control of the government and the entire economy was put under the control of the government through public sector enterprises. This controlled economy was being run by the Communist Party through central planning. The control of the Communist Party was so strong that nobody dared to point fingers towards it. This was in a way dictatorship of the Communist Party. Thousands of students and the youth who demanded democracy were shot dead publicly. But today, communist-governed China is being influenced, though indirectly by the capitalists.
Income and wealth inequalities are increasing in China and this is also becoming clearer that the relatives of political leaders have acquired huge wealth and their relations with businessmen are also getting deeper. Businessmen and other industrial personalities obviously have also been seen taking pride in these relations. The Chairperson of Hongdou Group, Mr Zhou, who holds at least ten political positions, says that he has been getting the opportunity to meet businessmen, political leaders and top military brass, due to his political ties. He further says that whenever he gets the opportunity during these meetings, he advocates the reduction of taxes. He also boasts that he pressurized Premier Wen Jiabao to reduce technology tax for the firms who establish brands. Zhou says that when his father retired from the office in legislature, he was invited in the Peoples Congress of China. It is to be noted that this family, after taking hold of a large amount of agricultural land near Wuxi, established nearly 100 companies and expanded its empire. He also got constructed a hall in which communist leaders are honoured. Zhou of Hongdou Group has established a finance company and has also expanded his business in Cambodia, after taking permission from the government. When he is questioned about his political activities, he says that “I am working as a representative of private entrepreneurs.”
There is a lot of anger among Chinese people due to increasing inequalities. Moreover, this anger is not just because of the increasing influence of the rich people, but because it has also resulted in increasing inflation, sub standard food products and increasing pollution. Today, the leaders of the Communist Party are not making policies alone, but the rich people who have or have not entered politics, are also influencing policies, thanks to their political ties.
At least 75 people, out of those included in the Hurun Report of the richest Chinese, are part of the 3000-member parliament of China (National People’s Congress of China). Perhaps, no parliament in the world has such a large number of rich people as its members. Though all the rich Chinese are undoubtedly trying to increase their richness by making their political ties stronger, but the people who are in politics are also in the race of increasing their riches. According to a report published by Hurun, a Shanghai Research Company, in the period between 2007-2012, those members of the People’s Congress of China who had wealth worth 1.5 billion or more, increased their wealth by 81 per cent whereas those rich people who were not political personalities could increase their wealth only by 47 per cent.
Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC), the advisory council of the Communist Party and the Parliament, has around 2200 members. The representation of the entire population of China is expected in this council, which includes those people as well who are not related to the Communist Party at all. Functionally, the task of this council is to assist government in its work. This council includes 74 such people, who were included in the Hurun’s List (2012) and whose average wealth was worth 1.45 billion dollars. Many members of the CPPCC are also denunciating the participation of the rich in this conference. One of the members has gone to the extent of saying, that these rich people are pressurizing President to serve their business interests. Not only this, maintaining a place for themselves in powerful positions, these rich Chinese also make their associates become a part of important committees using their power and contacts and expand their business after gathering the required information.
It is to be noted that the rich people of China have increased their influence to such an extent that they have left behind the rich people of America as well. In 2010, the total wealth of the 535 members of the US Congress (American Parliament) was between 1.8 million dollars and 6.5 billion dollars, whereas the average wealth of those 75 people who were on the Hurun’s List and were a part of the National People’s Congress of China (Chinese Parliament) was more than 1 billion dollars, i.e., the total estate of only these 75 rich people was more than 75 billion dollars Minimum). There is a lot of anger in the people of China due to the domination of rich people in power and the use of wrong ways for amassing wealth. Due to these revelations, there is a lot of tension in the Communist Party. But there seems to be no sign of reducing intimacy of the rich with the politicians. Recently, 7 richest people were a part of a gathering of the senior members of the Communist Party in Great Hall of the People in Beijing.
(The writer is Associate Professor and can be contacted at [email protected])
