For nearly 40 years, China’s Communists have been relaxing their grip on the economy to make people richer.
The endgame, former leader Deng Xiaoping said in 1987, was to achieve “a medium standard of living.” That ambitious goal is now within reach — China will be “moderately prosperous” by 2020, says President Xi Jinping.
But the last mile of this ultra marathon could be the hardest. Growth is the slowest it has been in 25 years, debt levels are exploding, environmental degradation is widespread and income inequality is rising.
