Chapter 8: China’s Economy under Xi Jinping

The new government of Party Chairman Xi Jinping and Premier Li Keqiang, which took office at the 2012 Party Congress and the 2013 National People’s Congress, faced familiar domestic challenges but new and complex international situations. The core domestic challenge was how to configure rapid growth that accommodated high-speed urbanization with modernization of output structure and reductions in poverty. The Xi–Li strategy seemed to delay another normal phase of GDP growth acceleration in the short term in order to prepare for a more ambitious reform-linked growth in the medium term. Internationally, China launched ambitious global financial and infrastructure initiatives but became entangled in a commercial confrontation with the US, enmeshed in escalating national security tensions…