ABSTRACT
Xi Jinping has eliminated any scope for factional model-making by attacking rivalrous factions, centralizing policy making authority to himself, and using his own ‘thought’ to enforce ideological conformity. He designated Zhejiang to be the ‘national demonstration zone for common prosperity’ in 2021. This suggested that the province is poised to become an important national model of his vision of socialism. It is a vision that promotes a gradual and sustained increase in the redistribution of wealth from the rich to the poor, while tightening authoritarian political control and pursuing high-quality economic growth. The greatest obstacles to transforming his vision into reality are a sustained economic slowdown and the low representativeness of Zhejiang’s conditions to other regions in China.
