China Herald: Confidence in Xi Jinping unshattered

President Xi Jinping is two years down his road of unprecedented reforms, and his plans are still developing. But despite much uncertainty confidence of his citizens in their president is great, writes China watcher Tom Doctoroff in the Huffington Post.

Tom Doctoroff:

The biggest source of uncertainty has been the Chinese economy. The new leadership team of President Xi Jinping is attempting to rebalance the economy from one driven by exports and capital investment to growth more reliant on services and consumer spending. This transition has been, at best, clunky. Economic observers are divided on whether or not long-term structural changes are in the works or whether China is trapped in a middle-income trap.

But there is one thing that has incontestably improved: confidence in President Xi. It is difficult to overstate the positive impression that he has made on the Chinese people. He is practically revered, but not blindly. His crackdown on corruption is seen as an artful balance of political savvy and reform. His recent agreements with the United States on environmental and high-tech trade issues reveal a crafty leader of a nation that is both competitor and collaborator. In short, the Chinese people think Xi Jinping is smart and switched on.

This is huge step forward. Despite the technocratic skill of Beijing mandarins, the Chinese economic is fueled by intangibles. In any country, but most of all China, anxiety is unproductive. Although the jury is still out on the Chinese government's incremental reform agenda, the people support their leader. And regard him as a force of stability. As 2015 dawns, this is perhaps the best economic news of all.

More in the Huffington Post.

Tom Doctoroff is a speaker at the China Speakers Bureau. Do you need him at your meeting or conference? Do get in touch or fill in our speakers´ request form.

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