Daily Times

The Chinese president, Xi Jinping, has grabbed the world’s attention. Especially given how he has pledged to take his country, along with everyone else, on a whirlwind trip to reach dizzying new heights under the banner of modern socialism complete with Chinese characteristics.

He outlined this vision during the 19th National Congress of the Communist Party of China (CPC), which convened this month. Indeed, the occasion represents a conspicuous window in the Chinese political calendar to conceptualise the next stage of the country’s dynamic growth in all spheres; particularly the economic, political and social.

The talk of a ‘New Era’, whereby Beijing is poised take centre stage when it comes to global affairs, did not disappoint. Indeed, it was well received against an international backdrop that has seen traditional world powers drag their feet on fulfilling certain international responsibilities.

The ‘personal philosophy’ of President Xi, who also wears the hats of CPC core leader and general secretary, shares some common ground with Marxist-Leninist thought; as well as that of Deng Xiaoping, who is still regarded as the country’s paramount leader; as it does Theory of Three Represents and Scientific Outlook on Development put forward by former presidents Jiang Zemin and Hu Jintao, respectively.

With an economy of around $11 trillion in size -China had to conduct massive structural reforms. Thus Xi gradually began steering the country away from an investment- and industry-driven model and towards a consumption- and services-oriented one. According to the ADB, strong domestic consumption, solid wage growth, urban job creation, and public infrastructure investment underpin the country’s miraculous economic expansion

Xi mapped out his long-term vision for China’s global rise by way of a 14-point agenda. The core of which rests on ensuring that by 2050, the country will “stand proudly among the nations of the world” and “become a leading world power”. Linked to this is building a top notch military capable of fighting and winning wars. Regarding China’s rapid growth, President Xi stressed that the paradigm of a new Chinese socialism remained the driving force behind this. Furthermore, he said, it offers a new way forward for the rest of the world and is therefore set to replace the traditional model of western democracy, long held to be the only key to economic power. Since the founding of the People’s Republic of China in 1949 through to the 1978 policy reforms that saw an opening up of the country — it has followed this same successful path, the Chinese president noted.

Xi’s ‘personal philosophy’ is said to take as its baseline policy that set out by the country’s founding father, Mao Zedong. He is, of course, credited with steering the CPC and the country’s diverse ethnic groups towards a new democratic socialist revolution. In other words, Chairman Mao introduced the greatest ever social transformation in China’s history. This led to the establishment of fundamental political norms as well as systemic bases for development and overall progress. And during the course of this socialist development — the CPC busied itself by formulating prominent as well as creative theories aimed at taking the country forward in the best possible way, despite the headwinds that it encountered along the way.

The second phase of China’s transformation took place under the stewardship of the great reformist, Deng Xiaoping. He painstakingly reviewed the country’s past experience of socialism, the good and the bad. This then became the basis for empirical research and initiating a new era of reform founded on socialism with Chinese characteristics.

Under the dynamic leadership of Jiang Zemin, the process of reform continued, successfully weathering such storms as were thrown up by certain domestic and international developments. The CPC, on his watch, threw its entire weight behind the basic economic system, focusing particularly on income distribution in the primary stage of socialism. Thus a new era was once more ushered in, this time for the 21st century.

Today, Xi Jinping stands at the helm. He has turned his dream of China taking charge of both its own and regional development into spectacular reality by way of the epic One Belt, One Road Initiative (OBOR). All of which is firmly rooted in his 14-point commitment to promoting Chinese socialism on a global scale. Under the Xi presidency, Beijing has undertaken aggressive reform of both the public and private sector, thereby minimising structural imbalances and liberalising the capital market. On the economic front, Xi is to be credited with getting fully behind the BRICS bloc of emerging economies; as well as the China-initiated Asia Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB); the OBOR project; and fielding the renminbi as an international currency reserve. This is not to mention the important role that President Xi played in the realm of international trade when the US pulled out of the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP). Nor in terms of the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP), an Asian free trade area. All of which has helped China to take on an increasingly pro-active role within the UN, the G20 and Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) groupings.

With an economy of around $11 trillion in size — it was only natural that China embarked upon a journey of massive structural reforms. President Xi ensured that this happened by gradually steering the country away from an investment- and industry-driven model and towards a consumption- and services-oriented one. According to the Asian Development Bank (ADB), strong domestic consumption, solid wage growth, urban job creation and public infrastructure investment underpin China’s miraculous economic expansion.

Thus there is every reason to have confidence in Xi’s new 14-point action plan. For his policies up until now have lifted more than 60 million out of poverty over the last five years alone. In real terms this means that the poverty headcount ratio has dropped from 10.2 percent to less than 4 percent. Now, the national commitment is to end poverty entirely by 2020.

Beijing is also taking seriously its responsibility to the environment. Its aim to restructure coal power — one of the main contributing factors when it comes to poisoning air quality and blackening cities with smog — features among the country’s top 10 priorities outlined in 13th five year plan (2016-2020). China also has plans to switch from fossil fuel (coal power) to non-fossil fuel (renewable energy sources like wind, solar, hydro and nuclear). As per the National Environment Agency (NEA) report for the country, China intends to reinvest 2.5 trillion Yuan ($361 billion) into renewable power generation by 2020.

It is therefore not an exaggeration to suggest that the entire world is now waiting in anticipation to see what Xi Jinping has up his sleeve next. Of course his real test will be to maintain GDP growth at least somewhere around the 6.7-percent mark to debunk predictions that the Chinese economy is slowing down. Yet so far, the experts are behind him. For they believe that as long as he continues along the path of a stringent fiscal policy that promotes a healthy tax base and follows through on pledges to purge the CPC of corruption from top-to-bottom down — President Xi’s vision will find its rightful place in history.

The writer is a senior journalist working for China Radio International Online, China Plus. He also writes for local and international print media. He is a fellow of ICFJ and a recipient of China friendly Netizen 2017. He can be reached at yaseerkhan@hotmail.com and tweets at @yasirkhann

Published in Daily Times, October 27^th 2017.