China Under President Xi Jinping

NB: We do not resell your papers. Upon ordering, we do an original paper exclusively for you.

NB: All your data is kept safe from the public.

Table of Contents

Introduction
Background and the Current Status of the Economic and Political Evolution
March 2018 – Political Development in China
Increased Governmental Surveillance
The Justification of the Autocratic Rule
Capitalism
Communism
Challenges to the Current Regime
Conclusion
References

Introduction

The ascension of President Xi Jinping to the position of general secretary of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) in 2012 marked the turning point of China’s political and economic reforms. After clinching the presidency the following year, Jinping initiated radical and revolutionary transformations as the country sought to exert greater global influence and dominance. However, some of the policies Jinping embraced have been counterproductive, leading to a continued deceleration of China’s economic growth. Additionally, he orchestrated extensive and fundamental changes to CCP in 2018, effectively reinforcing his grip on the party, the succession process and initiated a crackdown on his potential heirs in CCP. This paper explores China’s economic and political transformation under President Xi Jinping by discussing the decelerated growth and the progressive intensification of authoritarian tendencies under his presidency. It also evaluates the evolution, the justification, and the challenges of this leadership approach.

Background and the Current Status of the Economic and Political Evolution

Before initiating the extensive economic reforms and trade liberalization policies nearly four decades ago, China maintained relatively relaxed economic and political policies. These schemes kept the country politically stable with no remarkable occurrences while the economy was stagnant, vastly inefficient, centrally controlled, and considerably isolated from the global stage. According to McNally (2017), the Maoist political and economic policies were conservative, essentially avoiding any radical changes. For instance, McNally (2017) notes that the aversion to economic liberalization was primarily influenced by the successes of such other state-controlled economies as Singapore. However, following Mao Zedong’s death in 1976, Deng Xiaoping gradually rose to become the Chinese communist leader, marking a critical point in the country’s history. Butt and Sajid (2018) and Hu and Wang (2020) contend that Xiaoping abandoned numerous orthodox policies and oversaw the implementation of far-reaching market-economy reforms, which defined his tenure. In this regard, Xiaoping laid the foundation on which China started to progress.

Additionally, Xiaoping sought to enhance the political stability and economic progress of China. For instance, he settled the constitutional term limits for state officers and led the departure from a planned economy to a model which encouraged foreign investment and innovation. Moreover, he introduced the country’s enormous labor force to the global market, shifted China’s focus to an export-led economy, and accelerated the modernization of the economy (Yeo, 2020). In subsequent years, China recorded major economic milestones, including an average annual GDP growth rate of 10% and hitting a peak of 14.2% in 2007 (Jabbour & Dantas, 2017). From this perspective, the economic policies envisioned and implemented by Xiaoping contributed to China’s decades of explosive growth. However, since 2013, the country’s outlook has been pessimistic, followed by the abrupt and consistent decline in the expansion of its political economy (Krolikowski, 2017). However, Zhao (2016) notes that Jinping has increasingly attempted to revive the Mao era’s ideologies, resulting in an economic slowdown, which has broadly defined his tenure. Notably, this deceleration has been attributed to Jinping’s focus on addressing the internal political vulnerabilities and is anticipated to continue declining.

March 2018 – Political Development in China

In recent years, President Xi Jinping has sought to steer China to play a greater leadership role in global affairs. Having experienced the fickleness of the CCP during the era of Mao Zedong, particularly the Cultural Revolution, he felt the need to reform the party, address the intraparty factionalism and forestall any further power fragmentation (Cabestan, 2020). However, this exercise has only served to assist Jinping in reinforcing his grip on CCP and the Chinese polity. For instance, in 2018, Jinping orchestrated the amendment of the country’s Constitution, effectively removing term limits and allowing him to stay in power indefinitely (Chen & Xue, 2018). According to Heike (2018), the consolidation of power in Xi’s hands allowed him to suppress any succession aspirations from high-ranking CCP individuals summarily. Notably, the repealing of the term limit constitutional provision and other critical safeguards adopted in 1982 to enhance China’s political stability was the most remarkable political event under Jinping’s presidency.

Additionally, the 2018 amendment underpinned the political rule of a one-party system and emasculated the essence of other state and party organs. The Constitution now includes the enshrinement of the Xi Jinping Thought, a fundamental doctrine adopted as one of China’s guiding ideologies. In this regard, Jinping now enjoys the distinction of being the first Chinese leader whose theories have been enshrined in the Constitution. Overall, these reviews effectively reset the Chinese political clock to pre-1978, entrenched one-party totalitarianism, and revived Mao-style personalist rule. Predictably, CCP will continue to tighten its grip on power following the systematic and methodical suppression and emasculation of any dissenting voices opposed to Xi’s policies. For instance, Jinping has overseen a ruthless anti-corruption purge on senior party officials, which has been described as a tactic for the president to wield more power with little or no opposition at all (Keliher & Wu, 2016). Notably, the anti-corruption drive targeted even military officers and has been distinctly characterized by the imposition of punitive penalties and long sentences.

Increased Governmental Surveillance

In recent years, the Chinese government has perfected a vast establishment of digital espionage networks and systems to exercise greater social control. Private companies in association with state actors trawl through enormous volumes of peoples’ data, social media activities, and shopping information to compute the citizen score. This implies that people who make political publications on social networking sites without a permit criticize the government, contradict the official narrative issued by the regime adversely affects a person’s score. According to Hou (2017), the increased surveillance and digitalized autocracy are designed to suppress opposition and enhance the smooth governance by the current regime by eliminating dissent and exercise of social order. Notably, this extensive surveillance system is practiced through internet police administering cyberspace oversight, millions of cameras distributed across the country, and social credit award system.

The Justification of the Autocratic Rule

Following the growing castigation of the CCP’s rule, the country has responded to the critics by justifying the essence of tightened grip on the administration to enhance the country’s unification and realize nationalism. Jinping has also reiterated that China should embrace his vision if the country is to avoid another century of West-initiated humiliation and enable the country to play a greater role in global affairs. However, this ideology of nationalism is thinly veiled political fear emerging from a considerably unstable internal environment, promoting the desire to suppress freedoms and democracy (Luo et al., 2017). Additionally, it is coupled with numerous instances of ethnically motivated policies, such as the concentration of Kazakhs and Uyghurs in reeducation camps.

Capitalism

China’s crony capitalism and the associated challenges can be traced to the various incomplete reforms of yesteryears, allowing influential individuals connected to the government to extract wealth from the system. According to Tsokhas (2019), the CCP and the state are infiltrated by predatory and deeply entrenched people who perpetrate systematic graft and fraud through collusive networks in China’s economic and public institutions. However, the country can still develop economically by diverting its focus from investment and production to consumption. Indeed, China’s population provides an excellent platform for initiating a consumption-driven economy.

Communism

Although perceived to be a communist country, the government reflects a hybrid of authoritarian communism. Notably, communist regimes are inherently inclined to exercise dictatorial tendencies to realize full compliance and absolute obedience to authority. However, the Chinese model has increasingly explored options of eroding and limiting peoples’ freedoms and entrenching a one-party system. This implies that communisms often have authoritarian elements, but the Chinese structure significantly departs from that and adopts an authoritarian image. However, the impression of the country’s economic aspects reflects a capitalist system. This disqualifies the country from a complete communist, making it a capitalist state with an authoritarian political structure.

Challenges to the Current Regime

The current Chinese regime faces various challenges from steadily declining economic growth, the successful erosion of indoctrination through education, and unsustainable policies, such as extensive surveillance. Additionally, Xi Jinping is progressively consolidating power around himself, which is indicative of the political instability and uneasiness within the party and the country. Moreover, his heavy-handedness and ruthless suppression of people he deems a threat is an unsustainable political approach. The emphasis on nationalism is also likely to fail at some point, especially in the absence of governmental accountability.

Conclusion

China under President Xi Jinping has seen a tremendous transformation of the country’s political terrain, which reached its peak in 2018 when he championed the amendment of the Constitution. Notably, Jinping’s focus on the country’s polity has adversely impacted China’s economic growth, which has been declining steadily during his tenure. This is illustrated by the enormous investment in surveillance systems and ruthless purge on the people he deems potential heirs.

References

Butt, K. M., & Sajid, S. (2018). Chinese economy under Mao Zedong and Deng Xiaoping. Journal of Political Studies, 169. Web.

Cabestan, J. (2020). China’s foreign and security policy institutions and decision-making under Xi Jinping. The British Journal of Politics and International Relations. Web.

Chen, G., & Xue, J. (2018). Constitutional change allows Xi Jinping to rule beyond 2023.East Asia Policy, 10(02), 16−28. Web.

Heike, H. (2018). China after reform: The ideological, constitutional, and organizational makings of a new era. Journal of Current Chinese Affairs, 47(3), 187−207.

Hou, R. (2017). Neoliberal governance or digitalized autocracy? The rising market for online opinion surveillance in China. Surveillance & Society, 15(3/4), 418−424.

Hu, Y., & Wang, Y. (2020). Marketing research in China during the 40-year reform and opening.Frontiers of Business Research in China, 14(1), 1−29. Web.

Jabbour, E., & Dantas, A. (2017). The political economy of reforms and the present Chinese transition.Brazilian Journal of Political Economy, 37(4), 789−807. Web.

Keliher, M., & Wu, H. (2016). Corruption, anti-corruption, and the transformation of political culture in contemporary China. The Journal of Asian Studies, 75(1), 5−18. Web.

Krolikowski, A. (2017). Brittle China? Economic and political fragility with global implications.Global Policy, 8(S4), 42−53. Web.

Luo, D., Chen, K., & Wu, L. (2017). Political uncertainty and firm risk in China.Review Of Development Finance, 7(2), 85−94. Web.

Tsokhas, K. (2019). China’s crony capitalism: The dynamics of regime decay. Journal of Contemporary Asia, 49(2), 338−342. Web.

Yeo, Y. (2020). The origins of China’s distinctive tiered economy.China Information, 34(1), 88−108. Web.

Zhao, S. (2016). The ideological campaign of Xi’s China. Asian Survey, 56(6), 1168−1193. Web.

Click Here To Order Now!