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Freedom and Prosperity Around the World

Feb 26, 2024

China must spread its wealth to reach equality

By Johanna Kao

Despite phenomenal growth in GDP, Chinese people have seen only modest gains (if any) across a range of freedom and prosperity indices. The Chinese Communist Party has failed to share the benefits of the country’s upward economic trajectory equally among its citizens.

China Civil Society

Johanna Kao is a nonresident senior fellow in the Atlantic Council’s Global China Hub. She also serves as regional director for Asia at the International Republican Institute (IRI). Johanna has more than 20 years of experience in international political development, nonprofit management, and citizen empowerment and has lived and worked in the Asia region most of her life. She has previously served with IRI in Burma, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Cambodia, and Timor-Leste.

Before joining IRI, Johanna worked as a consultant with the UN in Indonesia, coordinated policy programs for the Asia Society in Hong Kong, and pursued what she thought was her calling with TIME magazine. Johanna was born and grew up in Hong Kong. She graduated from the University of Chicago with a degree in political science and completed her LLM at the University of Hong Kong.