Xiaokang — the Chinese Model of Development

Abstract

The beginning of the reform and opening up policy, which began in the 1980s, brought into the Chinese political lexicon a word made up of two simple characters, like “小康” (xiaokang). In this word, the character “小” (xiao) means “little” and “康” (kang) means “goodness, tranquility”. In foreign literature, this combination is translated as “low prosperity”, “average prosperity,” “small tranquility”, but the commonly accepted translation used in official Chinese documents is “moderately prosperous”. In Chinese political discourse, “Xiaokang” is related to such notions as social development, social policy, and people’s well-being. To date, achieving the level of “Xiaokang” and the comprehensive construction of “Xiaokang society” is the main practical activity of China’s modernization carried out by the Communist Party of China over the past 40 years of reform and opening up. This article examines the use of the concept of “xiaokang” (moderately prosperous) in the process of China’s modernization and socio-economic development during the reform period. Using historical and philosophical analysis, it traces the trend of transformation of the concept “Xiaokang” from antiquity to the present day. The expected achievement of the goal of “comprehensive Xiaokang society” and China’s proclamation of complete eradication of poverty by the 100th anniversary of the founding of the Communist Party of China (2021) is a topic of great relevance for the study.