The Economist this week carries a special on the challenges ahead for the mighty China: How to make China even richer

What a formidable challenge! I spent July 2004 backpacking in China and I was struck at how unequal was the society. There is so much misery in the rural areas! Trying to make these peasants even richer is an admirable goal. Actually, truth to be told, the main change in recent years is that now urban areas are richer than they ever were. How to make the peasants richer?

Difficult task, and The Economist has a clear suggestion for that:

Giving peasants marketable ownership rights, and developing a legal system to protect them, would bring huge economic benefits.

The article is really good, analyzing the pros, cons (Some officials also see collective ownership of rural land as one of the few remaining badges of China’s professed “socialism”) and possible route map to tackle down the project progressively, without hurry and without a pause, the way Chinese government likes to introduce changes..

Achieving a richer rural China, that is what I call an ambitious goal!