4-17 June 2023

Simon Cartledge -

Commentary

The Chinese economy’s lacklustre rebound from Covid and the impending visit of US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken might have been the main preoccupations of China watchers in the first half of June. Neither topic, however, featured in the most widely circulated articles in China’s official media for that period.

Higher on the agenda in terms of visitors to China were Xi Jinping’s meetings with Palestine’s President Mahmoud Abbas, Honduras’s President Xiomara Castro and Bill Gates. One can only speculate on the thoughts that might have passed through their respective minds as the two exchanged platitudes.

But the fortnight’s biggest theme was China’s cultural evolution, the subject of two long articles.

The first, “New cultural mission” (Chinese, machine translation) looked at how both Marxism and China’s long history have integral roles in the idea of “socialism with Chinese characteristics”.

The second, “Continuing the historical context and writing a contemporary chapter” (Chinese, machine translation, followed Xi on visits to the newly completed China National Archives of Publications and Culture and Chinese Academy of History, presenting his thinking on cultural inheritance and development “from the perspective of the overall development of the party and the country”.

Both are aimed at promoting confidence in China’s view of itself as a country which can be proud of its historical inheritance and of the way it has adopted Marxism to its own circumstances. Unsurprisingly, both prioritise celebrating achievements, not questioning them.

Both also echo the global civilization, development and security initiatives put forward by China since last year, with their calls for states to be allowed to develop as they see fit, rather than in line with any pre-existing model imposed from outside.

Why one would China’s leaders turn to promote their view culture at this time? We outsiders can only guess. But if we were to do so, it would be a signal to the vast Party apparatus that they are to shape their plans for the future in ways that draw upon cultural legitimacy either in place of or in addition to economic legitimacy.

While somewhat overblown, a common line for many years has been that the Communist Party’s ruling legitimacy was based an implicit social contract based around improved material well-being. China’s growth model was itself reflective of ideas taken from afar, not from Chinese history. Using land sales to fund public-private partnerships was used by many nations to develop; China’s tech giants have always been moulded in a Silicon Valley die: from NetEase onwards, Chinese software and tech firms followed growth models and public messaging largely identical to their Bay Area brethren.

That contract now needs reworking. For several years, Xi has and other leaders have noted that the nature of China’s economic growth must change: from “high-speed” to “high-quality”,and  to being more consumption driven, but also to start drawing ideas from China’s own well.

Exactly what this last point means seems impossible to spell out. In the two articles, the details of the culture and related values being advanced are vague – they rest in China’s “traditional excellent culture” and other such abstract formulations. But still, the message of both articles is clear enough:

“We must strengthen our cultural self-confidence, take on the mission, work hard and work together to build a modern civilization of the Chinese nation and create a new culture that belongs to our era.”

For us, what’s important here is the call on the collective “we” to move on from the project of developing China that has dominated the Communist Party’s leadership drive for the last four decades to a new one that uses the achievements made as the jumping off point for further development.

“Chinese-style modernization is the modernization of the continuation of ancient civilizations, not the modernization of the elimination of ancient civilizations; it is the modernization that grows from the land of China, not the modernization of other countries; it is the result of the renewal of civilizations, not the product of civilization breaks.”

Of course, one wouldn’t expect the CPC statements to express anything other than complete confidence in the Party’s own abilities. But could it be that following the work of his first two terms as Communist Party leader, Xi no longer sees his primary task as seeing off threats to the CPC’s continuing rule, but instead as seeing what he can do with the tools he has put in place that might enhance China’s momentum?

If so, that would be significant shift, echoing that being made by China’s leaders that they now have packages of ideas to offer the world that can guide future global development.

Or could it be that we see China trying to divine a new path, telling its officials that they need to come up with some new ideas that refer to Chinese culture, rather than sticking to older, more battle-tested ideas?

Top-ranked articles for 4-17 June 2023
% = percentage of publications carrying the article

1. Grasp the strategic positioning and insist on green development, Strive to write a new chapter of Chinese-style modernization in Inner Mongolia
把握战略定位坚持绿色发展 奋力书写中国式现代化内蒙古新篇章
Xinhua News Agency, 8 June 2023
Chinese / Machine translation / 43%

2. Bravely undertake the mission and not be afraid of hardships for a long time, Strive to create a new miracle in China’s desertification prevention and control in the new era
勇担使命不畏艰辛久久为功 努力创造新时代中国防沙治沙新奇迹
Xinhua News Agency, 6 June 2023
Chinese / Machine translation / 43%

3. Xi Jinping holds talks with Palestine’s President Abbas
习近平同巴勒斯坦总统阿巴斯举行会谈
Xinhua News Agency, 14 June 2023
Chinese / Machine translation / 43%

4. Xi Jinping meets with Bill Gates, co-chairman of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation of the United States
习近平会见美国比尔及梅琳达·盖茨基金会联席主席比尔·盖茨
Xinhua News Agency, 16 June 2023
Chinese / Machine translation / 42%

5. Xi Jinping holds talks with President Xiomara Castro of Honduras
习近平同洪都拉斯总统卡斯特罗举行会谈
Xinhua News Agency, 12 June 2023
Chinese / Machine translation / 40%

6. New cultural mission
新的文化使命
Xinhua News Agency, 4 June 2023
Chinese / Machine translation / 38%

7. “Eclectic selection of talents”
“不拘一格地选拔人才”
Xinhua News Agency, 12 June 2023
Chinese / Machine translation / 38%

8. Improve the system of comprehensive and strict Party governance, Promote the in-depth development of the new great project of Party-building in the New Era
健全全面从严治党体系　推动新时代党的建设新的伟大工程向纵深发展
Xinhua News Agency, 15 June 2023
Chinese / Machine translation / 38%

9. Continuing the historical context and writing a contemporary chapter
赓续历史文脉 谱写当代华章
Xinhua News Agency, 3 June 2023
Chinese / Machine translation / 37%

10. Strengthen the overall construction of the army, improve the ability of border defense and control, and strive to forge the Great Wall of Steel to defend the country and defend the border
习近平在内蒙古调研边境管控和边防部队建设情况时强调加强部队全面建设 提高边境防卫管控能力努力锻造卫国戍边钢铁长城
Xinhua News Agency, 9 June 2023
Chinese / Machine translation / 37%

For more information about Five Things on China’s Leader’s Minds, visit About Five Things on China’s Leaders’ Minds or email fivethings@bilby.ai