A: He has said that the continual goal is to create a moderately prosperous country where most of the people – around 750 million – will be in the middle class; a country with status and accepted in the international community; a country that is basically bourgeois China. Xi will be the architect of bourgeois China.
So, the “China dream” is really more about people having the basic materials for a good life. It’s harder to define the more abstract aspects of that dream.
Q: What about in terms of political systems?
A: The one party system is going to remain for many years. It seems that under Xi Jinping, reforms are accepted in areas that encourage and strengthen one party rule. Where reforms weaken one party rule, they are opposed and resisted.
Q: How about internationally, what does Xi Jinpin mean for the West and the rest of Asia?
A: He has promoted a diversified foreign policy. He’s gone to many places, and is diversifying China’s foreign relations. He’s pushing for a China that has more strategic space, a China that can say to the world what it wants, and a China that won’t be pushed around.
Q: Lastly, it’s still early, but who should we pay attention to for China’s next leadership?
A: Well, five of the seven Politburo Standing Committee members will retire in 2017. People have been talking about Hu Chunhua, the Party secretary of Guangdong province, and former Hunan province governor and Party sectary, Zhou Qiang.
It’s tough to know who is close to Xi Jinping at the provincial level, and whether provincial level officials are where future leaders will come from. There are no easy Xi Jinping acolytes, that’s for sure.
About Kerry Brown:
Kerry Brown is the executive director of the China Studies Center at the University of Sydney, and also professor of Chinese Politics. From 2011 to 2014, Prof. Brown led the European Union-funded Europe China Research and Advice Network and is an associate on the Asia Program at Chatham House. He is the author of 11 books on China, most recently “The New Emperors: Power and the Princelings in China“.