China is set to be “a global leader in terms of comprehensive national strength and international influence” by 2050, Chinese President Xi Jinping announced on Oct. 17 as he addressed the country’s Communist Party congress in Beijing.
Mr. Xi outlined his vision for providing global leadership using the Chinese Socialist Democracy model of growth.
International observers are calling the marathon three-and-a-half-hour speech to the party’s 2,300 delegates and the world at large a “sweeping,” “ambitious” and “epic” agenda.
President Xi’s address is significant not only for its embrace of global economic integration at a time when many in the West are turning inward, but also because China is seen as adopting an increasingly more authoritarian approach to governing.
Since taking office in 2012, Mr. Xi has consolidated his power at home, rounding up political rivals, corrupt officials and business magnates in a massive anti-corruption campaign that has affected more than 100,000 people and tightening its censorship over its 1.4 billion citizens.
The ‘World’s Most Powerful Man’
The assertive agenda also comes at a time when Mr. Xi’s statue itself is rising in global politics. The Financial Times calls Mr. Xi “the most powerful Chinese ruler since Mao Zedong.” The Economist goes one step further, calling him “the world’s most powerful man.”
The Economist reasons that China’s leader is the strongest because its economy is second in size only to the United States. The magazine suggests that although the United States is “still the world’s most powerful country.” its leader “is weaker at home and less effective abroad than any of his recent predecessors.”
Chinese President Xi Jinping addresses the Communist Party congress, outlining an ambitious agenda, on Oct. 17, 2017.
While the U.S. President Trump is pushing an anti-globalist, economic nationalist movement, Mr. Xi is asserting himself as a leading advocate for globalization, trade and foreign investment. As for the European Union, it is facing anti-global populist movements at home and political challenges to its unity.
Mr. Xi highlighted a long list of achievements, including China’s medium-high economic growth rate, its reduction in poverty, new infrastructure projects, urbanization, innovations and institution building. He also said China is growing stronger militarily, emphasized its “steady growth” in building islands in the South China Sea and its territorial integrity and authority over Taiwan.
Xi said China is now primed to be a strong power. “It is time for us to take centre stage in the world and to make a greater contribution to humankind,” he said.
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