Xi tells party to show ‘unwavering faith’ in China’s reform plans

On Tuesday the country released weaker-than-expected growth figures for the year’s first half, prompting some investment banks, including Goldman Sachs, to cut their annual growth forecast for the world’s second-largest economy.

As Xi prepared to deliver a work report behind closed doors, the party’s leading theoretical journal Qiushi published a rallying cry by the Chinese leader on Tuesday under the headline “Maintaining Self-Confidence and Self-Reliance”.

It called on party members to show unwavering faith and commitment to the development path China has charted for itself and warned there is no “ready-made solution” or “foreign instruction manual” it can follow.

The journal also published excerpts from his previous speeches, including a passage that said: “China’s economy did not collapse in the past because of the ‘China collapse theory’, and it will not stop growing because of rhetoric claiming China has plateaued. China’s development prospects are bright, and we have belief and confidence.”

This, together with articles published in other official outlets, including one by state news agency Xinhua that hailed him as a “thoroughbred reformer”, suggests that there will not be any significant directional shift.

Instead, Beijing is likely to stick to its development strategy focusing on technology, advanced manufacturing and other sectors considered critical to the nation’s overall strength.

While this may differ from the typical Western understanding of “reform” – which implies market liberalisation – it is consistent with Xi’s vision, which is about improving the party’s governance and delivering China’s “great rejuvenation”.

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China’s Communist Party on track for 100 million members by year’s end

China’s Communist Party on track for 100 million members by year’s end

Hailing Xi as a “statesman, thinker and strategist”, Xinhua said he had “always shouldered the heavy responsibilities of reform” and “personally reviewed and revised all major plans”.

It also described him as “another outstanding reformer in the country after Deng Xiaoping” and noted that the two paramount leaders “each faced strikingly different historical circumstances”.

Deng had to build up a poverty-stricken China from scratch while Xi had taken over when the country was already the second-biggest economy in the world, but many of the advantages that had helped it develop rapidly – such as cheap labour – were already starting to diminish.

“Instead of resting on the laurels of his predecessors, Xi was committed to carrying on reform, even though he knew how hard it would be,” Xinhua said, adding that he had played a role in all China’s major reforms throughout his career.

Another Xinhua article said Xi had chaired 72 meetings since coming to power in 2013 and been in direct charge of all reform programmes since then.

Xie Maosong, a senior researcher at the National Institute of Strategic Studies at Tsinghua University, said the official messaging clearly signalled that Xi would not be deflected from his chosen path and will institutionalise his brand of reform to ensure it becomes “a major political legacy”.

Deng Yuwen, a former deputy editor of Study Times, the Central Party School’s official newspaper, cautioned that the party must keep an eye on public sentiment as discontent about the weakening economy grew.

“The public wants more upwards mobility, fairer job opportunities and basic things such as food safety. The party must demonstrate that they can deliver these goals.”