Stand aside Likonomics ... here’s Xiconomics: How President Xi Jinping is taking the reins of China’s economy
The president appears to have eclipsed the premier by seizing China’s economic reins. But what exactly does his grand vision entail?
The advent of Xiconomics, which has taken the place of Likonomics, suggests it is President Xi Jinping (習近平), rather than Premier Li Keqiang – who has a doctorate in economics from Peking University – who has seized the reins of China’s economic reform.
The term Xiconomics has been a media catchphrase on the mainland since the People’s Daily, the ruling Communist Party’s mouthpiece, launched a series of articles last month to propagate “Xi Jinping’s economic thought”.
The term Likonomics – coined by Barclays Capital three years ago to describe Li’s economic doctrine – was once known throughout global investment markets. It was taken up enthusiastically by the media – just as, in the 1980s, “Thatcherism” in Britain under Margaret Thatcher and Reaganomics in the United States under Ronald Reagan, were widely adopted, or more recently, Abenomics in Japan under Prime Minister Shinzo Abe.
READ MORE: Xi Jinping’s ambitious power play
The idea of Likonomics faded after a string of moves by Xi to take personal charge of the country’s economic affairs; Likonomics is rarely mentioned now.
Some economists even reject the idea of naming an economic theory after a politician.
