Xi Jinping’s Dreams for China

With the 19th Party Congress approaching, Tony Saich takes us through the challenges facing China’s leadership.

The story of China’s recent meteoric economic growth is coming to an end, and now it’s up to Chinese leadership to plot the next chapter.

Chinese President Xi Jinping has proven himself one of the strongest leaders in recent Chinese history, consolidating power in his first five year term as president and general secretary of the Communist Party to a degree perhaps not seen since Deng Xiaoping, whose economic reforms in the early 1980s paved the way for the China’s resurrection on the world stage.

This month the Chinese Communist Party will come together for its 19th Party Congress, an event held every five years in which the party decides who the key power-brokers will be. While Xi is a lock to be appointed for a second term as general secretary, there are open questions about other key leadership positions, and how the party will confront the country’s many daunting challenges.

In this week’s episode, Professor Anthony Saich, director of the Harvard Ash Center for Democratic Governance and Innovation at the Kennedy School and author of the recent report, “What Does General Secretary Xi Jinping Dream About?”, breaks down the issues Xi and his leadership team face as China transitions into a new role economically and internationally.

HKS PolicyCast is the official podcast of Harvard Kennedy School, featuring weekly interviews with scholars and leading practitioners in public policy, leadership, and international affairs. It is hosted by filmmaker, writer, and policy wonk Matt Cadwallader.