WASHINGTON -- Chinese President Xi Jinping's ideology-driven economic policies risk derailing the country's future as they fundamentally change incentives driving the behavior of local officials, entrepreneurs and young Chinese, the Asia Society Policy Institute says.
In her report, "The End of Experimentation and Aspiration in Xi Jinping's China," senior fellow Diana Choyleva describes the addition of "common prosperity" to Chinese Communist Party doctrine in August 2021 as a "watershed moment." In stark contrast to the pragmatic policies of former leader Deng Xiaoping, which let local governments run pilot programs before rolling policies up to the provincial level and then nationwide, the economic policies of Xi are top-down.
