China: the state and the economy under Xi Jinping
Soundings - ISSN 1362-6620
Volume 2024 Number 87
China: the state and the economy under Xi Jinping
Gavin Poynter pages 53-75
DOI: 10.3898/SOUN:87.03.2024
Abstract
This article traces the dynamics of recent developments within the Chinese economy and state, particularly the period of President Xi Jinping’s dominance. It explores the paradox of the juxtaposition of Communist Party rule with capitalist economic development. The resulting tensions are evident in the state’s successive changes of strategy, in its efforts to reconcile the antagonistic forces that have arisen during China’s extremely rapid industrialisation. An elite party is ruling without any functional or democratic means of negotiating between such antagonisms. China’s economy is currently shifting to a new phase, away from its emphasis on cheap labour from the rural areas and towards becoming a high-tech economy. The current plan for growth rests upon a quest for greater self-reliance and vast investment in new technologies. Xi’s regime is attempting this while simultaneously seeking to strengthen its control over capital, labour and civil society. The article discusses recent shifts of policy resulting from Xi’s need to maintain the party’s authority following the financial crisis and the Covid pandemic: including the u-turn over Covid restrictions at the beginning of 2023, and the clampdown on companies such as Evergrande following the property crash.
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To cite this article
Gavin Poynter (2024) China: the state and the economy under Xi Jinping, Soundings, 2024(87), 53-75. https://doi.org/10.3898/SOUN:87.03.2024