Xi Jinping isn’t just reforming China, he’s creating an alternative to the West

Shiu Sin Por writes that the sheer scope of the Chinese president’s plans suggest he will be around for awhile, and that he means to create a new paradigm that is distinctly Communist China’s

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Chinese President Xi Jinping (centre), Premier Li Keqiang (third from left), and other senior leaders attend a reception held by the State Council to celebrate the 68th anniversary of the founding of the People's Republic of China, in Beijing on September 30. Photo: Xinhua

Published: 10:08am, 11 Oct 2017Updated: 1:38pm, 20 Oct 2017

The upcoming 19th congress of the Communist Party of China will reveal Xi Jinping’s team for implementing his vision for China in the next five to 10 years (some say 15). The present team, the seven members of the standing committee of the political bureau and the political bureau itself were not completely of his own making.

With the declaration naming him the core leader of the party in a previous Central Committee meeting – a title only Mao Zedong and Deng Xiaoping had gained – Xi has gained full authority to form his own team this time. In view of the task he set for himself and the country, he is almost certain to break the two-term and age-limit rules for top leaders, which the party introduced in the late 1980s.

Chinese dressed in replica red army uniforms take pictures at a base relief showing former Chinese Communist leaders Mao Zedong and Zhu De at a historic site of the Long March in the mountains outside Jinggangshan, Jiangxi province, on September 14. Photo: Reuters

Xi has wasted no time in the last five years to push forward his programme, strategy and tactics for the next phase of China’s development. The two centennial goals Xi introduced, achieving a middle-income society by the year 2021, the 100th anniversary of the founding of the Communist Party, and the “Great Revival of the Chinese People” in the year 2049, the 100th anniversary of the founding of the People’s Republic of China, set forth a clear political programme for the country for the next 30 years or so.

No political party anywhere in the world has ever done anything even close to this. These are not empty words – at least for the first and immediate goal. He has set out to eliminate poverty in the whole country by 2021. Even though the poverty standard was set at a relatively low level, it is still a daunting task to bring the remaining 30 million people out of poverty in the coming four years. Judging by the progress so far, the goal is likely to be achieved.

Why Xi Jinping cares so much about ending poverty in China: the political significance behind the campaign

A woman gets a haircut on a street in a migrant village on the outskirts of Beijing. It is a daunting task to bring the remaining 30 million Chinese still considered poor out of poverty in the coming four years. Photo: AFP