China must also "guard against falling into the trap of welfarism", Han Wenxiu, an official at the central financial and economic affairs commission, told a briefing in Beijing.

Those who "get rich first" should help those behind, but hard work should be encouraged, he said.

"We cannot wait for help, rely on others for help, or beg for help. We cannot support layabouts."

Investors have been rattled by a series of measures, including a crackdown on several industries, that are in part aimed at curbing cost-of-living pressures, as well as tightening anti-monopoly rules and data protections.

Han said recent policies regulating internet companies aimed at irregularities and illegal behavior, and "absolutely" did not target private companies or foreign companies.

Reforms four decades ago that unleashed China's market economy enabled the accumulation of vast personal wealth, with hundreds of billionaires minted in the still avowedly socialist country, deepening inequality, especially between urban and rural areas.

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