Xi Is Master of Nothing: Economist

choi

Politics | Master of Nothing; One of Xi Jinping's biggest challenges is age-old: local officials don't listen. Economist, Oct 22, 2016.

Quote:

"many [small and inefficient steel mills in Tangshan] still operate [note the present tense] around the clock. Their city [Tangshan] is close to Beijing, virtually on Mr Xi's doorstep, but the steel bosses openly flout his orders.

"By passing ministries, he rules through informal 'leading small groups,' heading so many of them that foreign commentators have labelled him 'chairman of everything.' * * * Mr Xi may be chairman of everything, and he may well be stronger than any leader since Deng Xiaoping. But in a country so vast, diverse and with so many entrenched interests, he often seems to be master of nothing.

"an even greater impediment to his power is an age-old one: local authority.

"because its [China's] leaders are afraid to delegate power, they can give their attention only to a limited range of priorities. Many government schemes, particularly ones that are tricky, pricey or unpalatable to local politicians, go largely unheeded [in China].  Strikingly, Mr Xi even sometimes fails to implement policies that he has declared to be a priority. He reportedly said that he had the capacity to tackle only one big economic issue this year, and that was to trim the bloated steel and coal industries. As a result, in February, the government revealed plans to cut steel capacity by 100-150, tonnes in the next five years and surplus capacity in coal production by 500m tonnes. To give his edit extra prominence, officials took the rare step of inviting foreign journalists to Zhongnanhai to quiz a deputy finance minister on it.  Yet, as the smokey streets of Tangshan shows, the president's stentorian words do not always translate into local deeds. Since February, steel output has risen nationwide every month year-on-year (see chart on next page).

My comment: This is a somewhat long essay, consisting of two pages in print.