Beautiful Virgin Islands

Wednesday, Sep 03, 2025

Changing China: Xi Jinping's effort to return to socialism

Changing China: Xi Jinping's effort to return to socialism

For decades life in China had evolved around its home-grown version of let-it-rip capitalism.

Despite being technically a "communist" country, the government had put its faith in trickle-down economics, believing that allowing some people to become extremely rich would benefit all of society by dragging it out of the disastrous quagmire of Chairman Mao's Cultural Revolution as quickly as possible.

To an extent it worked. A large middle class has emerged and people in virtually all strata of society now have better living standards as a result.

Wealth disparity


From the stagnation of the 1970s China has been thrust to the top of the pile, now challenging the United States for global economic dominance.

But it left a chasm of income disparity.

It is there to be seen in the children of those who were in the right place and the right time.

Parents who were able to take over factories in the 1980s made exorbitant profits which have paid for their progeny to now drive flashy sports cars around gleaming cities, zooming past the construction workers who wonder how they will ever be able to afford to buy a home.

The get-out-of jail card for the Party had always been the phrase "with Chinese characteristics".

The concept of socialism - "with Chinese characteristics" - allowed the government massive philosophical leeway to run a society which, in many ways, was not very socialist at all.

General Secretary Xi Jinping appears to have decided that this is no longer acceptable.

The Chinese government, under his leadership, has started putting the Communist back in the Communist Party, at least to some extent.

Despite the communist system, there is a huge gap between China's richest and poorest people

The new catchphrase is "common prosperity".

It hasn't really appeared yet on the street side propaganda posters but this can't be far off.

It is now the cornerstone of what China's leader is doing.

Crackdowns on daily life


Under this banner, targeting tax evasion by the wealthy makes more sense, as do moves to make education more equitable by banning private tutoring companies. The ongoing crackdown on the country's tech giants can also be seen as part of the plan.

So does Xi Jinping really believe in this idea of a communist project? It is hard to be 100% sure but some observers would say it certainly seems that way.

China is this year celebrating the 100th anniversary of the Communist Party

As a comparison, in the past it didn't feel like that with many other Party officials.

The thing is that - along with the wealth redistribution aspects of the communist path - Mr Xi also seems to believe that this means thrusting the Party back into most aspects of daily life, as the only realistic way of achieving what needs to be done.

Kids are being lazy, wasting away their youth playing video games? Party to the rescue: three-hour gaming limit.

Teenagers having their minds poisoned with silly, idol-worshipping television? Party to the rescue: "sissy looking" boys banned from programmes.

Demographic time bomb ticking: Again, the Party has the solution: Three-child policy for all!

Football, cinema, music, philosophy, babies, language, science… the Party has the answers.

At odds with his father's beliefs


To try to understand what has made Xi Jinping the leader he is today you have to take a look at his background.

His father, Xi Zhongxun, was a Communist Party war hero, known as a moderate, who was later purged and imprisoned in the Mao era.

At the time Mr Xi's mother was forced to denounce his father. After his father's official rehabilitation in 1978, he pushed for economic liberalisation in Guangdong Province and reportedly defended one of China's most progressive leaders Hu Yaobang.

Given the persecution of Mr Xi's father at the hands of Communist Party zealots, given his father's inclination towards reform, many have asked why Xi Jinping now seems to be taking the Party in a direction which would appear to be at odds with his father's beliefs?

There are various possible explanations.

Perhaps he simply disagrees with his father's line on certain political matters.

Or maybe China's leader intends to pursue a plan which, while different in emphasis to the priorities of his father, will not end up anywhere near the policies of the Mao era. At least not intentionally.

However, it does still seem quite remarkable.

Xi Jinping appears on a large screen during an event marking the 100th anniversary of the Communist Party

When his father was sent to prison, Xi Jinping, at the age of 15, was made to go to work in the fields for years, living in a cave house.

These tumultuous times clearly toughened him up but could just have easily transformed into a hatred of politics, especially of a hard-line variety.

Some China watchers have speculated that he perhaps believes that only a strong leader can guarantee that China will not return to the chaos of the 1960s and 70s.

And remember the rules have now been changed so that he can remain in power for as long as he likes.

One reason for all this guess work is that we never hear him explain what he is doing in terms of his decisions. China's leaders do not give interviews even with the compliant Party-controlled media.

Mr Xi turns up in rural villages for television opportunities and is welcomed by orchestrated crowds of cheering locals who receive his wisdom on corn growing or other aspects of their work and then he leaves.

So it is hard to predict what new rules, restrictions or guidelines might be placed on economic activity in China or how far any of this will go.

In recent times, barely a week has gone by without a major change to the regulations governing one part of the Chinese system or another.

It has been, frankly, difficult to keep up with them. Many of these changes have come completely out of the blue.

It is not that there is an innate problem with the state controlling various levers of production here. That is for economists to debate in terms of what is most efficient. The problem has been the sudden uncertainty.

How can anybody reliably make investment decisions if they don't know what the ground rules will be in a month's time?

There are those here who see the whole process as a natural part of the country "growing up". In areas which had been unregulated there have needed to be regulations.

If this is the case, then this period of shock tactic transition may be only a temporary state which will eventually calm down as new rules become clear.

But it is by no means clear what the length or breadth of these moves will be.

One thing that is certain is that any shift should be seen through the prism of Xi's "common prosperity" drive at a time when the Party will not give up an inch of its power while implementing it and, in China, you can either get on board this truck or get run over by it.


Why does China’s economy matter to you?


Newsletter

Related Articles

Beautiful Virgin Islands
0:00
0:00
Close
Germany in Turmoil: Ukrainian Teenage Girl Pushed to Death by Illegal Iraqi Migrant
United Krack down on human rights: Graham Linehan Arrested at Heathrow Over Three X Posts, Hospitalised, Released on Bail with Posting Ban
Asian and Middle Eastern Investors Avoid US Markets
Ray Dalio Warns of US Shift to Autocracy
Eurozone Inflation Rises to 2.1% in August
Russia and China Sign New Gas Pipeline Deal
China's Robotics Industry Fuels Export Surge
Suntory Chairman Resigns After Police Probe
Gold Price Hits New All-Time Record
Von der Leyen's Plane Hit by Suspected Russian GPS Interference in an Incident Believed to Be Caused by Russia or by Pro-Peace or by Anti-Corruption European Activists
UK Fintechs Explore Buying US Banks
Greece Suspends 5% of Schools as Birth Rate Drops
Apollo to Launch $5 Billion Sports Investment Vehicle
Bolsonaro Trial Nears Close Amid US-Brazil Tension
European Banks Push for Lower Cross-Border Barriers
Poland's Offshore Wind Sector Attracts Investors
Nvidia Reveals: Two Mystery Customers Account for About 40% of Revenue
Woody Allen: "I Would Be Happy to Direct Trump Again in a Film"
Pickles are the latest craze among Generation Z in the United States.
Deadline Day Delivers Record £125m Isak Move and Donnarumma to City
Nestlé Removes CEO Laurent Freixe Following Undisclosed Relationship with Subordinate
Giuliani Seriously Injured in Accident – Trump to Award Him the Presidential Medal of Freedom
EU is getting aggressive: Four AfD Candidates Die Unexpectedly Ahead of North Rhine-Westphalia Local Elections
Lula and Putin Hold Strategic BRICS Discussions Ahead of Trump–Putin Summit
WhatsApp is rolling out a feature that looks a lot like Telegram.
Investigations Reveal Rise in ‘Sex-for-Rent’ Listings Across Canada Exploiting Vulnerable Tenants
Chinese and Indian Leaders Pursue Amity Amid Global Shifts
European Union Plans for Ukraine Deployment
ECB Warns Against Inflation Complacency
Concerns Over North Cyprus Casino Development
Shipping Companies Look Beyond Chinese Finance
Rural Exodus Fueling European Wildfires
China Hosts Major Security Meeting
Chinese Police Successfully Recover Family's Savings from Livestream Purchases
Germany Marks a Decade Since Migrant Wave with Divisions, Success Stories, and Political Shifts
Liverpool Defeat Arsenal 1–0 with Szoboszlai Free-Kick to Stay Top of Premier League
Prince Harry and King Charles to Meet in First Reunion After 20 Months
Chinese Stock Market Rally Fueled by Domestic Investors
Israeli Airstrike in Yemen Kills Houthi Prime Minister
Ukrainian Nationalist Politician Andriy Parubiy Assassinated in Lviv
Corporate America Cuts Middle Management as Bosses Take On Triple the Workload
Parents Sue OpenAI After Teen’s Death, Alleging ChatGPT Encouraged Suicide
Amazon Faces Lawsuit Over 'Buy' Label on Digital Streaming Content
Federal Reserve Independence Questioned Amid Trump’s Push to Reshape Central Bank
British Politics Faces Tumultuous Autumn After Summer of Rebellions and Rising Farage Momentum
US Appeals Court Rules Against Most Trump-Era Tariffs
UK Sought Broad Access to Apple Users’ Data, Court Filing Reveals
UK Bank Shares Dive Over Potential Tax on Sector
Germany’s Auto Industry Sheds 51,500 Jobs in First Half of 2025 Amid Deepening Crisis
Bruce Willis Relocated Due to Advanced Dementia
×