Chinese state media praises Xi Jinping’s ‘thrifty’ style and highlights effort to live like common people
- State news agency Xinhua publishes report extolling president’s ‘pragmatic and frugal’ style and efforts to ensure party members stay down to earth
- Reports of Xi’s austere lifestyle are seen as a part of an effort to burnish a Mao Zedong-style image as being on the side of ordinary people
Chinese President Xi Jinping is the kind of president who does not mind eating his dinner on the train and who shuns luxurious accommodation, according to the latest state media reports designed to portray him as a thrifty and frugal leader.
The report by state news agency Xinhua published on Monday depicted him as a man who would spent his birthday working and personally intervened to ensure that meals in honour were not too extravagant, with just the traditional “four dishes and soup” being served.
The report was also intended to reinforce the message to officials that staying down to earth was “no trivial matter” but was key to fulfilling the party’s “original mission” in what one analyst described as a Mao Zedong-style effort to show he was on the side of the people.
Xinhua said the party chief had reminded other senior leaders that they must stay close to the people and keep a thrifty working style, telling them: “No matter how much the people's lives have improved, hard-working and thrifty thinking can never be lost.”
The state media report gave a long list of examples of his “pragmatic and thrifty” style, including his efforts to ensure that celebrations of the 70th anniversary of the founding of the People’s Republic he attended around the country “avoided extravagance and waste”.
