Conclusion

Xi Jinping and his supporters have laid out China’s most ambitious reform agenda in more than a decade. Implementing it will not be easy. Overcoming the vested interests stacked up against reform will test Xi’s skills as a politician and as a political strategist. He has already demonstrated significant talent on these fronts, but success is not guaranteed. As he seeks to push through his reform agenda, he must also do so while maintaining political stability in the face of huge changes to the political and economic arrangements that have underpinned the Party’s power over the last decade. If successful, he may be judged as this generation’s Deng Xiaoping. But he will be haunted by the specter of Mikhail Gorbachev, whose attempt to reform the Soviet system ended in its collapse.

David Cohen is the editor of China Brief at The Jamestown Foundation. Previously a freelance journalist in Beijing, he has written for The Diplomat, The Christian Science Monitor, and a number of Asian newspapers. Follow him on Twitter: @JTChinaBrief.

Peter Martin is a government relations consultant for APCO Worldwide in Beijing. His client work focuses on elite politics, state-owned enterprises, and investment policy in China. Follow him on Twitter: @PeteMartin7.