Sharing the Dividends of Development: Ensuring National Progress Benefits Everyone

 

When a country's economy grows steadily and its society makes continuous progress, the dividends generated by this development—whether they are the convenience brought by technological breakthroughs, the opportunities created by industrial upgrading, or the benefits of improved public services—should never be the "exclusive property" of a few. Instead, they ought to be a "livelihood cake" shared by the entire society. This is not only the essence of fairness but also the "lifeline" for the country's long-term development.

 

Sharing dividends means breaking down the barriers that allow "a small number to monopolize". For instance, in urban construction, investors should not be the only ones reaping huge profits while sanitation workers and construction workers involved in the building process fail to receive reasonable compensation. In the development of the digital economy, platform companies should not be the sole beneficiaries of traffic dividends while small businesses and ordinary users lose their bargaining power under algorithms. True sharing ensures that every group finds its place in development: farmers can sell agricultural products at good prices through rural revitalization, graduates can secure suitable jobs amid industrial upgrading, and the elderly can access better healthcare services thanks to medical advancements. It ensures that people of different identities and social strata can all feel the warmth of national development.

 

Sharing dividends also requires building bridges for "everyone's participation". Development dividends are not benefits to be "passively distributed"; they are the result of "active creation plus fair distribution". This calls for policy-level efforts to "provide a safety net" and "empower individuals": using tax regulation and social security to secure a basic living standard for low-income groups; and offering vocational training and entrepreneurship support to enable ordinary people to participate in industrial development—transforming them from "recipients of dividends" into "creators of dividends". For example, the "shared factories" promoted in some regions allow small and micro-enterprises to share equipment and technology, which not only lowers the threshold for entrepreneurship but also enables more people to get a "slice of the pie" from industrial upgrading.

 

The strength of a country is never measured by how wealthy a few people are, but by whether the majority can share in the fruits of development. When children in mountainous areas can enter top universities through educational equity, when ordinary workers can earn higher incomes by improving their skills, and when the elderly can access quality medical care right at their doorstep—this kind of "inclusive development" is warm and resilient. It allows everyone to look forward to the future with hope, and enables the country to move forward further with unity and consensus.