Steve Tsang - China in the Xi Jinping Era

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China is in the midst of a great transformation. It has already changed from being a regional power to a global power and is on a trajectory to become a superpower. As it does so, its global interests and capabilities are developing fast. by Christopher Hughes).

Under Xi, China is making the most of the capacities and progress it made in the last three decades of reform to seek new opportunities for further development and advancement. The steady improvement in the living conditions of its citizens and landmark achievements, such as becoming the second largest economy in the world, have helped the Chinese leadership to refine its objectives. What Xis administration aims to achieve by 2022 is to double the size of the gross domestic product (GDP) both nationally and on a per capita basis, whether in the urban centres or in the rural regions. This is what becoming a moderately prosperous society is intended to mean. The Party plans to build a strong national consensus around its commitment to make the China Dream a reality, and to use this process to galvanize everyone to join the efforts to build a rich, powerful, socialist-democratic, civil, and harmonious country. This approach is meant to shape the development strategy for the next three decades (see Chap. by Tianyong Zhou).

At the same time, Xi seeks to improve Chinas relations with the great powers and its neighbours. China is already the largest trading partner of nearly 130 countries and plans to build on this to promote mutually beneficial collaboration. The setback to economic advancement in the world brought about by the global financial crisis has been seized on by China as an opportunity to leave its mark. Its commitment to sustained growth has prevented the global economy from slipping further and led to it expanding its investment and interests far and wide. Since the global financial crisis, China is contributing to improvement in infrastructure and industrial capacity, not only domestically but also elsewhere through its outward investment. In its efforts to reach out, China is creating new opportunities and challenges for others.

The environment in which China needs to achieve its ambitions is tough and testing. The successful reforms of the previous three decades have also produced deep economic and societal contradictions. This is recognized by Xi: Since the 18th Party Congress, China has embarked on the journey to rebalance the economy and seek a new normal for sustainable growth and development. How to do so is the crux of the matter (see Chap. by Baojiang Han and Shiping Qi).

The wider international and strategic condition is even more complex. There is a gap between Chinas capacity to fulfil its wish to take on more international responsibilities and what the wider international community expects of it. This has given rise to suspicion about its intentions. The rise of the China threat narrative and the contradicting demand that China should be a responsible stakeholder has made the task more daunting. As the advanced countries led by the United States of America (USA) seek to tighten rules and conventions in the international community to tame a rising China, Chinas neighbours also become concerned. They have consequently heightened cooperation with the USA. In other words, the more China develops rapidly, the more others suspect and worry about its intentions, and their responses in turn pose extra challenges and difficulties for China (see Chap. by Men).

Putting the domestic and external challenges and opportunities together, the Chinese Government still sees scope to seize the opportunities despite the difficult environment. As the celebrated poet Su Dongpo of the Song Dynasty observed: not letting something that lands on your hand slip away is good timing; not letting someone who passes by go unutilized is seizing the moment.