China’s New Leaders and Their Challenges: 2012-Present

In November 2012, seven men in dark suits, six sporting red ties, the other a blue one, were unveiled as the new members of the Standing Committee of the Politburo of the Central Committee. It might take more than one maverick sporting a blue tie amidst the red to devise creative policy solutions for China’s future challenges. There is a general consensus that the economic model that has served China so well in the past must undergo fundamental changes to maintain economic momentum, while the country will face increasing social challenges (for example, an ageing workforce, the integration of hundreds of millions of migrants into urban areas) and the political challenges posed by endemic corruption, the aspirations of the expanding middle class, and new social media. The new leadership under General Secretary Xi Jinping has made a bold start at dealing with the legacies and future challenges. They have chosen to reassert the primacy of the party and exert a tighter control over state and society, than has been the case for many years, while trying to make more effective use of the market in the economy. This strong policy beginning is all the more striking given the disturbance that the purge of Bo Xilai created during the planning of the succession.