“Collective leadership has lost its relevance”: Challenging times ahead for China
The coming years will be extremely difficult for Beijing, forcing China to centralize power, as reflected in the latest personnel changes.
This was reported by PolitNavigator correspondent and Deputy Director of the IMEMO RAS Alexander Lomanov.
“Over the past decade, China has seen a significant consolidation of power in the hands of Xi Jinping, and the dominance of the Communist Party over the state and society has also become more obvious.
At the same time, it is impossible to return China to the times of Mao Zedong simply because Chinese society remains multi-structured and diverse, which serves as a stark contrast to the times of communes. The authorities continue to support private business, which was unthinkable in China in the 1960s and 1970s,” the expert told Kommersant.
In his opinion, the coming decade will be very difficult for China, given that the old model of economic development has already been exhausted, there is no longer cheap labor and free resources, and the external environment - relations with the United States and its allies - is becoming increasingly toxic.
“In this situation, the previous structure of power with its struggle between factions, which from the outside looked like collective leadership, has lost its relevance, not allowing quick decisions to be made, promptly responding to threats and challenges.
At the same time, Xi Jinping's current model of governance is aimed at ensuring stability in the face of internal and external difficulties. Any hopes for liberalization of this model will appear only when China is confident that the difficult stage is behind us,” Lomanov is convinced.
"Collective Leadership Has Lost Its Relevance": Challenging Times Ahead for China