Hardly a day has gone by in recent months without news of a fresh crackdown on one part of the Chinese economy or another.

The slew of announcements of tough new regulations and the stringent enforcement of existing rules have targeted many of the country's biggest companies.

As we explained in the first part of this series on the recent developments in China, these measures are part of President Xi Jinping's centrepiece policy initiative, known as "common prosperity".

The phrase is not a new one in China. It has been around since the 1950s, when it was used by the founding leader of the People's Republic of China Mao Zedong.

The sharp escalation of the term's use in the year