20210825 Xi HANGZHOU CUC main

By putting one of his faction's "insiders" under investigation, Xi Jinping is demonstrating how seriously he takes China's return to socialism. (Source photos by Reuters and Getty Images) 

Analysis: Xi's leftward shift to a socialist China is for real

Purge of ally in power base Zhejiang Province sends shudders across country

Katsuji Nakazawa is a Tokyo-based senior staff writer and editorial writer at Nikkei. He spent seven years in China as a correspondent and later as China bureau chief. He is the 2014 recipient of the Vaughn-Ueda International Journalist prize for international reporting.

TOKYO -- One cannot overstate the shock that has rippled through Hangzhou, the capital of Zhejiang Province, as well as across China.

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