At a time when China is getting ready for the 15^th five year plan which will take China towards its 2^nd Centenary goal (the Xiaokang), the leader of the 2^nd largest economy of the world Chinese President Xi Jinping has reaffirmed his fundamental vision of putting his people first & not capital. During 2024, 70% of state expenditure had been on people’s wellbeing & in 2025 that has increased to approx 74% (increase by approx 3.9 billion USD) with special focus on Education & Social Insurance. Focused on food security, China’s grain production has been more than 706 million tonnes (increase of 1.6% from 2023) in 2024.

Rural Development Assistance

During 2024 China had allocated approx 24.6 billion USD to revitalize 160 counties across the country. The 6% increase of per capita disposable income of rural residents during Q1 – Q3 of 2025 indicates the impact of this investment. In addition the government had allocated more than one billion USD during 2024 to improve production & living conditions of the minority communities. The ‘work relief’ programs of the government have created more than 2.45 million employment opportunities for the grass roots communities during Q1 – Q3 (increase of 30% from 2023). Those jobs have distributed nearly 4.3 billion USD as wages to the communities marking a 22.7% increase from 2023 (Ref. Ministry of Finance, China). Disciplined workforce is the key takeaway from above. Sri Lankans who acted otherwise but still interested in developing the country has a never before opportunity to learn from these developments.

‘A’ stocks pays dividends

The Chinese government focused on the people & the people have ensured capital growth. In China ‘A’ shares are the stocks/shares of mainland based companies & entities which are traded on the two Chinese stock exchanges (i.e. Shanghai Stock Exchange (SSE) & Shenzhen Stock Exchange (SZSE). In the past only main land citizens could purchase ‘A’ shares due to investment restrictions. They were only quoted in RMB. However, ‘B’ shares quoted in foreign currencies (i.e. USD) were the shares traded in Hong Kong & Macao etc.

During this week China's ‘A’ share market reached a historic milestone & the total market capitalization surpassed 13.9 trillion USD for the first time. Among the top players were the Industrial & Commercial Bank of China (ICBC) & Agricultural Bank of China (ABC). Analysts believe that this is a result of China's efforts in advancing technological innovation & investing in the quality of life of the work force or the people. This has attracted foreign capital inflows & fueled Chinese stock market prosperity. Those who worry about Chinese debt traps may re think on the reality. Few might know that western investments have flown into Indian media companies. What they report on China may not be the unfiltered news. Sri Lankans should focus on learning from success stories to increase people quality to boost capital.

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