Xi Jinping’s Political Economic Transformation and Its International Implications: A Preliminary Assessment
Xi Jinping’s Political Economic Transformation and Its International Implications: A Preliminary Assessment

Summary/Abstract: Xi Jinping, a “princeling” scion of China’s revolutionary aristocracy, rose from a blameless but unprepossessing background as a provincial official as blank as a Rorschach inkblot, prudently keeping his political agenda under wraps. Belying early expectations of political reform, Xi has instead since his ascension prioritized the monopolization of political power and implementation of a sweeping rectification campaign. Yet his quest for personal power is also clearly motivated by vast ambition to strengthen China, both domestically and internationally. This paper is a preliminary attempt to assess that effort. The first section briefly and in very broad outline reviews the political economic context Xi inherited, from the Tiananmen crackdown and subsequent slowdown to Xi’s simultaneous election to chairmanship of the Politburo Standing Committee and the Central Military Commission in 2012. The second part summarizes the domestic reforms initiated since the 18th Party Congress in 2012 and offers a tentative assessment of how well the various reforms are suited to correct the

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