Author's note: Since the 19th CPC National Congress in 2017, Xi's political theory is known as "Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era," a long phrase with each word carrying weight of meaning. Since then, "Xi Jinping Thought on…" has been expanded and applied to the economy, rule of law, ecology, strengthening the military, and diplomacy. In these five commentaries, I address each of these areas, seek to discern its distinguishing characteristics. This background will enable a close reading of the political proclamations at the upcoming CPC National Congress. The second commentary features Xi Jinping Thought on the Economy.

How is China preparing for the 20th National Congress of the Communist Party of China, the most important event in China's political calendar (held every five years)? To begin, one must appreciate the so-called "Two Establishments" — establishing Xi Jinping at the core of the Party and thus China's unchallengeable leader, and establishing Xi Jinping's political theory as the foundation of Party ideology — both of which were "established" formally by "Historical Resolution" in late 2021.

As background for understanding how Xi's political theory is applied, I begin here with "Xi Jinping Thought on the Economy." China has become the world's second largest economy, second largest consumer market, largest manufacturing country, largest country in goods trade, and largest in foreign exchange reserves. China's GDP more than doubled from about 54 trillion yuan in 2012 to over 114 trillion yuan in 2021, and its proportion of the world economy increased from 11.4 percent to more than 18 percent. The per capita GDP has increased from 6,300 U.S. dollars to 12,500 U.S. dollars.

I summarize Xi Jinping Thought on the Economy, a systematic framework, as I see it, of goals, principles and strategies.

Economic goals:

* The great rejuvenation of China; a fully modernized socialist nation. 

* High standards of living, with Common Prosperity for all, such that gaps between peoples will be narrowed. 

* A world leader in science, technology and innovation as well as in manufacturing.

Economic principles:

* Party leadership of the economy; the economy is the Party's central work. 

* People-centered development philosophy, so that people are fulfilled, happy, and safe. 

* A new development stage in the new era requires new thinking, shifting from high-speed growth to high-quality development. 

* A socialist market economy, with the market playing a decisive role in allocating resources and the government playing a smart role in overseeing it. 

* Leveraging the power of capital to catalyze productive forces, while regulating and restraining the "disorderly expansion of capital." 

* Mixed ownership of enterprises, with a strong state-owned sector and modern management systems. 

* National self-reliance and self-improvement.

Economic strategies: 

* New Development Concept. 

* Expand domestic demand and encourage greater consumption, the so-called "Dual Circulation" strategy with domestic as the main source, and domestic and international trade promoting each other. 

* Rural vitalization to achieve Common Prosperity; bring standards of living in rural areas up to the rough equivalent in urban areas; only by making the economic "cake" larger, can the economic "cake" be divided more equally. 

* Indigenous innovation, especially for bottleneck technologies like semiconductors — to be insulated from foreign pressures or uncertainties. 

* Risk reduction, through supply-side structural reform, financial deleveraging, food security, energy security, supply chain security, information security, and price stability.

* Promote green technologies, from alternative energy to electric vehicles.

* Stress information technology and e-commerce. 

* A unified national market to enhance productivity and efficiency.

The original foundation of Xi Jinping Thought on the Economy is the New Development Concept, which I have followed since its inception in 2015, when it was known as the "Five Major Concepts of Development" — innovation, coordination, green, open, and sharing.

"Innovative Development" holds the top spot for the first time: innovation obviously in science and technology, but also in services, management, processes, branding and marketing.

"Coordinated Development" seeks efficiencies via regional integration, primarily the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area, the Yangtze River Economic Belt around Shanghai, and the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region in the north.

"Green Development" elevates ecological civilization and pollution control to highest national importance.

"Open Development" is exemplified by China's free trade zones, the Belt and Road Initiative, the Global Development Initiative, foreign companies coming to China, and Chinese companies going abroad.

"Shared Development" means rebalancing imbalances between urban and rural sectors and between coastal and inland regions; sharing comes last, not because it is least important, but because it requires the prior success of the first four development concepts.

There are challenges, of course: short term, global slowdowns; and long term, declining population, aging demographics, and international tensions.

The vision of Xi Jinping Thought on the Economy is clear; its test will be its continuing results.

I'm Robert Lawrence Kuhn.

Script: Robert Lawrence Kuhn

Editors: Yang Yutong, Qi Haiming

Producer: Wang Ying

Supervisors: Ge Jing, Adam Zhu

(If you want to contribute and have specific expertise, please contact us at opinions@cgtn.com.)

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