Xi Jinping: The Hidden Agendas of China?s Ruler for Life

This book examines the policy, ideology and politics of Xi Jinping, State President and General Secretary of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) and China’s “ruler for life.”

Through comparisons with former CCP leaders, including Deng Xiaoping, it assesses whether, having abandoned many of the key precepts of the Era of Reform and the Open Door, the conservative supreme leader’s restitution of Maoist standards might enable China to sustain economic growth and project hard and soft power worldwide. The book also examines whether the Communist Party will succeed in retaining the support of 1.4 billion Chinese in the face of unprecedented challenges in the economic and geopolitical arenas. It also provides a comprehensive picture of Xi’s rise to power; his AI-assisted and “legalistic” surveillance and control mechanisms; China’s evolving economic system; Xi’s foreign and national-security policies and the implications of the 20th Party Congress of October 2022 from both domestic and foreign perspectives.

Being among the first books in English on the ambitious and multi-faceted agendas that Xi has laid out taking China up to the early 2040s, this will be an invaluable resource for students and scholars of Chinese studies, China-US relations, East Asian politics and Contemporary Asian history.

Willy Lam is a Senior Fellow at the Jamestown Foundation, Washington, DC, and a research affiliate with several academic institutions in North America. Previously, he taught Chinese politics and foreign policy for 15 years at the Chinese University of Hong Kong. Lam has 40 years of experience writing about China. His eight books include China in the Era of Xi Jinping and The Fight for China’s Future (both published by Routledge).