Xi’s paradoxical China policy

In March 2013, Xi Jinping assumed office as president of China, a few months after stepping into the role of new chief of the Communist Party in November 2012. Xi came to power with a vision for China: the “Chinese dream” of “resurrecting” Chinese power, and of the “great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation”. More concretely, he called for improving China’s legal institutions, promoting the “rule of law”, raising social standards, and carrying out further market economic reforms, as pledged during the Third Plenum of the 18th Central Committee in November 2013. Since then, the party and the government have worked on developing measures to achieve these general objectives. From 5 March to 15 March 2015, the National People’s Congress (NPC) and the Chinese People’s Consultative Conference held their annual session to take decisions aimed at moving the president’s agenda forward. Will the decisions be enough to enable China to reach Xi’s goals?