Priorities of China’s Economic Development in Contemporary Official Ideology

Abstract

The official interpretation of the priorities in China’s economic development that influences searches in economic theory is rooted in generalization of practical experience. The study of this mechanism can deepen our understanding of the relationship between ideology and economic theory in today’s China. This article analyzes the evolution of “Xi Jinping’s economic thought” since the second half of the 2010s. Its basic components are related to economic governance, national development priorities and economic policy-making. The author supposes that an objective need to develop an all-embracing ideology of China’s economic development is motivated primarily by the deterioration of external conditions along with depletion of domestic growth factors. The adaptation of Chinese economic policy to these changes led the government to set new goals and strategies summarized in the form of “Xi Jinping’s economic thought”. The article focuses on the Study Outline on Xi Jinping’s Economic Thought published in 2022. The book was compiled by the Propaganda Department of the CPC Central Committee and the National Development and Reform Commission responsible for planning China’s socio-economic development. The intensive propaganda of Xi Jinping’s economic thought gene­rated a demand for theoretical research aimed at elaborating its “scientific principles” to contribute into construction of Chinese economic theory capable of guiding the practice of national development. The article analyzes the relationships between Xi Jinping’s economic thought and the Marxist political economy of socialism as well as the legacy of the economic policies of Mao Zedong and Deng Xiaoping. It is concluded that the content of Xi Jinping’s economic thought will change following the emergence of new challenges in China’s economic development.