The Global Economy in Turbulent Times

CHAPTER 137 The “China Dream”¹

President Xi Jinping, general-secretary of the ruling Communist Party as well as chairman of the Military Commission, talked of the “China Dream” to unite an increasingly diverse nation of 1.35 billion people. What’s Xi’s vision, which incidentally sounds somewhat like the American dream?; it even evokes Martin Luther King’s “I Have a Dream,” reflecting some US-style aspiration. Since the revolution, China’s goals have centered on unity, strength, and wealth. Mao Zedong tried to attain them through Marxism and failed: The Cultural Revolution ended with his death in 1976. Deng Xiaoping’s catchphrase was more practical: “reform and opening-up.” Then, Jiang Zemin pushed the more arcane “Three Represents” to embody the changed society, including allowing private businessmen to join the party. Lately, Hu Jintao championed the “scientific-development” outlook, which was about being greener and dealt with disharmony created by the divisive wealth gap. His Prime Minister Wen Jiabao dwelt repeatedly with the need to rid the economy of the four uns: “unstable, unbalanced, uncoordinated, and ultimately unsustainable growth.”

Now, Xi talks of his dream of “the great revival of the Chinese nation,” of a “strong army dream,” and of our mission “to meet the people’s desire for a happy life.” He also alludes to ordinary citizens wanting “to own a home, send a child to university, and just have fun.” The Chinese dream, he said, “is an ideal. Communists should ...