Beijing —
Chinese leaders have just concluded a closed-door conclave focused on drawing up the country’s next five-year economic blueprint – a sweeping plan covering everything from accelerating tech innovation to streamlining how China’s farms grow food.
Stakes are high for formulating that strategy, with Chinese officials under pressure to reduce reliance on imported high-tech and address economic weaknesses as the country faces a deepening rivalry with the US.
But drawing up the plan – especially at a moment when Washington remains immobilized by a government shutdown over spending for the current fiscal year – also gives leader Xi Jinping an opportunity to showcase a source of his confidence in China’s rise: the authoritarian country’s ability to produce – and deliver on – far-reaching visions.
Chinese state media and officials have not been delicate about playing up what they see as that competitive advantage in recent days.
“Scientifically formulating and continuously implementing the five-year plan is … a key political advantage of socialism with Chinese characteristics. Many foreign political parties envy us for this,” Jiang Jinquan, an official with the Communist Party Central Committee’s Policy Research Office, said at a press briefing Friday, adding that
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