After Vladimir Putin’s landslide presidential election victory on Sunday, western governments lined up to characterise the win as unfair and undemocratic. The elections underlined the “depth of repression” in Russia, according to British foreign minister David Cameron, while the US state department said the jailing and disqualification of opponents meant the process was “incredibly undemocratic”. The comments from leaders across Europe and the US stood however in sharp contrast to messages of congratulation that flowed from countries across Asia, Africa and Latin America. These contrasting reactions underscore the geopolitical faultlines…
Tag: Xi Jinping
China may be facing too many economic obstacles to hit its ambitious growth target for 2024
Chinese leaders who have been predicting an end to the country’s deflation would have been heartened by official statistics this week showing consumer prices had increased for the first time in six months. The news came as the ruling Communist party used its annual gathering in Beijing to declare the economy would clock up growth of “around 5%” in 2024. However in his speech, Premier Li Qiang warned dutiful delegates they “should not lose sight of worst-case scenarios and should be well prepared for all risks and challenges”. And little…
Xi Jinping didn’t speak at China’s Two Sessions, but it’s clear who is in charge
Xi Jinping didn’t speak at China’s Two Sessions meetings this year, but his presence was still felt. His name appeared 16 times in the government work report delivered by the Premier Li Qiang, the number two leader, reportedly more than in any other year since Xi took office over a decade ago. Li was clear in noting that credit for China’s achievements in 2023 was owed to Xi and to “the sound guidance of Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era”, Xi’s ideological doctrine. Journalists…
The Guardian view on supply chains: not only just in time, but just in case | Editorial
In 2012, shortly before becoming China’s top leader, Xi Jinping visited the Port of Los Angeles to discuss boosting trade. What then looked like a locus of cooperation has now become another site for suspicion as Sino-American relations remain tense. Last month, the Biden administration announced $20bn of funding for port infrastructure, much of it to replace cargo cranes that have almost all been made by a state-owned Chinese firm. The US is concerned because the sophisticated pieces of equipment manage information about containers and their contents, their origins and…
China’s Growth Slows but Xi Jinping Keeps to His Vision
Even with growth faltering in China, Xi Jinping appears imperiously assured that he possesses the right road map to surpass Western rivals. China’s economy has lurched into a slower gear. Its population is shrinking and aging. Its rival, the United States, has built up a lead in artificial intelligence. Mr. Xi’s pronouncement several years ago that the “East is rising and West is declining” — that his country was on the way up while American power shrank — now seems premature, if not outright hubristic. The problems have brought growing…
Rare glimpse inside China’s halls of power as Beijing hosts major political event amid high security
Across Beijing, security guards stand shivering. Residents of the heavily monitored capital city are used to encountering security guards, members of an urban management force called chengguan, and police officers every few blocks. But this week, as China hosts its biggest political meetings of the year, even more muscle has turned up in Beijing. Since Monday, Beijing has been hosting the Two Sessions, concurrent meetings of China’s top political consultative body and its rubber-stamp parliament, the National People’s Congress (NPC). The meetings, which are expected to finish on Monday, are…
How China Came to Dominate the World in Solar Energy
China unleashed the full might of its solar energy industry last year. It installed more solar panels than the United States has in its history. It cut the wholesale price of panels it sells by nearly half. And its exports of fully assembled solar panels climbed 38 percent while its exports of key components almost doubled. Get ready for an even bigger display of China’s solar energy dominance. While the United States and Europe are trying to revive renewable energy production and help companies fend off bankruptcy, China is racing…
China Cancels a News Conference, Shutting a Window for Its People
For more than 30 years, the Chinese premier’s annual news conference was the only time that a top leader took questions from journalists about the state of the country. It was the only occasion for members of the public to size up for themselves China’s No. 2 official. It was the only moment when some Chinese might feel a faint sense of political participation in a country without elections. On Monday, China announced that the premier’s news conference, marking the end of the country’s annual rubber-stamp legislature, will no longer…
Is China’s Era of High Growth Over?
China’s real growth agenda China announced an official growth target of about 5 percent on Tuesday that’s already looking hard to pull off. The world’s second-biggest economy is facing headwinds, from a consumer slowdown to weak investor confidence and a trade war with the West. But the growth target only tells part of the story of how Beijing is rethinking economic policy. Left out of the pronouncements: a stimulus package. Investors watch the annual gathering of the National People’s Congress, the country’s rubber-stamp parliament, and a parallel meeting of China’s…
China’s New Economic Agenda, a Lot Like the Old One: Takeaways
Beijing was abuzz with politics on Tuesday. China’s annual legislative meeting — the National People’s Congress, when Communist Party leaders promote their solutions for national ills — opened for business. The event is a chance for the leaders to signal the direction of the economy and outline how and where the government will spend money in the coming year. Yet while aiming high, they offered little. Officials signaled that they were not ready for any showstopping moves to revive an economy battered by a property crisis, the loss of consumer…