Chinese state media touts Xi Jinping’s commitment to private sector

State news agency Xinhua flags up the Chinese leader’s commitment to the private sector and paints him as the true heir to Deng Xiaoping

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Xi Jinping is being hailed in state media as a “true reformer” on par with Deng Xiaoping. Photo: EPA-EFE

Published: 6:00am, 18 Jul 2024Updated: 4:28pm, 18 Jul 2024

Chinese state media is stepping up its efforts to portray President Xi Jinping as the true successor to Deng Xiaoping while pointedly addressing some international concerns about his reform programme.

As the Communist Party elite met this week for the third plenum – a key meeting to determine the country’s development strategy for the next five to 10 years – state news agency Xinhua released a profile of Xi that was only available on its overseas service.

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The article published on Monday hailed Xi as a “true reformer” on par with Deng, who is widely regarded as the architect of the greatest reform programme in modern history.

It said: “They shouldered the same mission: to modernise China, but they were faced with different circumstances.”

But Western critics of Xi remain sceptical about his pledges to reform the economy. They have pointed out that China’s growth rates have significantly slowed over the past decade while Beijing still appears to prioritise state-controlled enterprises over the private sector and foreign investors.

Xinhua tried to address these concerns without directly mentioning the criticisms, saying he had to deal with many complex structural problems and “tough bones that are hard to chew” such as concerns among China’s private sector and international investors.