It is hard to argue with success like this. It has even been agreed, after much debate in the Communist Party s central committee, that party members may hire others to work for them provided the number is not too great. Articles confidently report that, ten years after his death, the Chinese people are happy to forget about Mao. But after my most recent visit to China I interpret things differently. This time there was a subtle change in the atmosphere.
Nobody talks about the ten thousand yuan households any longer.
The Party now believes this was going too far because so few households had been able to reach that standard. Quite a few of those who tried had gone bankrupt. Individuals can still get loans to promote their businesses. But now the emphasis is on building small co-operatives and collective enterprises. This is the way to common prosperity and to help the poor, the Party secretary in the village told me.