An interesting perspective from George Magnus, as always. Two niggles:
1. "Most of the technocrats and economic experts of the previous leadership regime have stepped down, and been replaced by people whose loyalty to Xi is more important”. Unlike, say, America's failed gerontocracy, the older men retired, and younger guys with stellar track records replaced them. The 'loyalty to Xi' meme is obligatory for people like Magnus. It bookends the eternal 'Xi consolidating power' meme. Both make the same primitive error: they conflate Beijing politics with Washington politics. And ignore history: in 2012 Xi became chairman of a committee he did not choose and without whose unanimous vote, he cannot forward legislation to Congress (whose membership he cannot influence and whose word is final. When he ascended to the Dragon Throne he was the son of one of the most famous and beloved men in Chinese history, the husband of the most famous, glamorous woman in China, and the owner of a breathtaking CV. Since then he has done more to improve the lives of more people than all Western leaders combined.
2. "the figure of 3.9% growth for Q3 2022 is probably not the real figure given the way that these GDP figures are gathered”. If Beijing estimates 3.9%, then the final figure won't be lower. China's stats are as good as any in the world. Western China "stats," of course, are invariably wrong.
An interesting perspective from George Magnus, as always. Two niggles:
1. "Most of the technocrats and economic experts of the previous leadership regime have stepped down, and been replaced by people whose loyalty to Xi is more important”. Unlike, say, America's failed gerontocracy, the older men retired, and younger guys with stellar track records replaced them. The 'loyalty to Xi' meme is obligatory for people like Magnus. It bookends the eternal 'Xi consolidating power' meme. Both make the same primitive error: they conflate Beijing politics with Washington politics. And ignore history: in 2012 Xi became chairman of a committee he did not choose and without whose unanimous vote, he cannot forward legislation to Congress (whose membership he cannot influence and whose word is final. When he ascended to the Dragon Throne he was the son of one of the most famous and beloved men in Chinese history, the husband of the most famous, glamorous woman in China, and the owner of a breathtaking CV. Since then he has done more to improve the lives of more people than all Western leaders combined.
2. "the figure of 3.9% growth for Q3 2022 is probably not the real figure given the way that these GDP figures are gathered”. If Beijing estimates 3.9%, then the final figure won't be lower. China's stats are as good as any in the world. Western China "stats," of course, are invariably wrong.