A man rides a scooter past a screen showing figures of the gross domestic product on a street in Shanghai on Jan. 19, 2026. China's economy grew at one of the slowest rates in decades last year, according to official data, amid persistently low consumer spending and a debt crisis in the country's property sector. Jade Gao/AFP via Getty Images
China’s wealth inequality may be far more severe than official figures indicate, according to a prominent Chinese economist whose recent remarks have reignited debate over the country’s widening wealth divide and the limits of Beijing’s “common prosperity” agenda.
