In China, Five More Years of Xi Means Security Above All Else
The world’s most populous nation has lost some of the zeal for growth, experimentation and collaboration that defined it two decades ago.
Xi Jinping, center, at the opening session of the 20th National Congress of the Communist Party of China in Beijing on Oct. 16.
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As Xi Jinping embarks on his third term as China’s president, the world’s most populous nation has lost some of the zeal for growth, experimentation and global collaboration that defined it two decades ago. In its place, both Xi and China are focusing on security above all else, argues Bloomberg Chief Economist Tom Orlik. Today, Beijing is “fighting with the US, fighting against pandemics, trying to secure what it has rather than open up and explore new opportunities,” Orlik says. Everyone else is left trying to figure out how to cope with this less-freewheeling China.