CEO, China: The Rise of Xi Jinping

CEO, China is a unique book with its combination of biography, history, and contemporary political analysis of The People's Republic of China. The main thrust, as indicated by the title, is the story of Xi Jinping and his rise to power and a position in which he was just reaffirmed for another five years.I found the background about the source of power in modern China and the structure of the Chinese Communist Party provided useful insights into a mysterious country. The book also provides information about Xi's path to power while discussing his ideological justifications for his rule. The politics of the party and Xi's position could be compared with the politics of the Roman Catholic Church in its monolithic state and hold on power in China.The author comments on page 120 that "Yu Zhengsheng is the ultimate modern Chinese man without qualities..." suggesting that Chinese governance might share a nebulousness with Robert Musil's literary description of the Austrian Empire at the twilight of the nineteenth century. I found that while I learned much about modern China and Xi Jinping I also was left with many questions unanswered - challenged by the differences between their culture and ours. What is clear is that the Chinese economy has grown immensely over recent decades and is on a trajectory to overtake the United States.There are interesting aspects of Xi, like his celebrity wife, who is unusual for someone in his position. It is noted that "..she unleashes the political capital that can be gained from having a glamorous celebrity wife..." (pp 109-110). It is not clear how or whether this broadens his appeal as a leader. More important to his position are his leadership of campaigns to root out corruption (particularly useful in eliminating political opponents) and his overseeing an authoritarian control over the Internet and social media that is described as "Web lynching", a phenomenon not unheard of in the United States.While China, with a population of 1.3 billion people, appears to be a juggernaut there are issues that may be insuperable. On page 176 it is noted that "The party, Xi has said many times, must keep close to the people." This may be possible only with the advent of technological change that requires control and may just as likely be turned against the party. Xi's political program seems to mimic that of left-wing politicians in Western countries (eg. USA) with an emphasis on reforming state-owned enterprises and taxing the rich, some of whom have been milking said enterprises.This is a book with a wealth of information, but in spite of that it leaves the reader with more questions than answers. There is power in the Chinese Communist Party and its leader Xi Jinping that seems to be in control; however there is the shadow of both Mao's brutal reign and the failed example of Soviet Communism that is ever present in the background. There are also continuing international tensions with India and other border states. Kerry Brown has provided a good primer on the state of Xi Jinping, China, and issues that will determine their future.

The author concludes that XI is what every leader wishes for their country and ultimately, he will prey on control of the state for far beyond his 2 terms. Interestingly, XI just did that. Awesome stuff.

With Xi Jinping on the cover of the Economist with the title “The World’s Most Powerful Man” and that magazine recommending this book as a selection in 2016, I thought it important to learn something about this man. I looked on Amazon and bought this book. I have read several books on China including Henry Kissinger’s as well as biographies of Mao and Deng. Unfortunately, I did not find this book not as informative as the others. The author writes using unnecessarily complex and convoluted sentence structure, neologisms, and colloquialisms that make reading this relatively short book a real slog. I kept having to re-read sentences and paragraphs and stop to decode what was being said. This wasn’t always easy. This could have been obviated by a well done rewrite—something that should have be done before the book was published. The author could have greatly benefited from a good editor. I do not think that I learned any more about Xi Jinping than I learned by reading The Economist and other news stories that were published after the conclusion of the October 2017 Chinese Communist Party (CCP) Congress.To understand modern China, you need to understand the backward mess it was in during British, French, German, Russian, Portuguese and Japanese colonialism, the corruption of the Nationalist Kuomintang party, the Chinese civil war, Mao’s mis-rule during the “Great Leap Forward” and “Cultural revolution,” how Deng outdid Mao in transforming China, and the intrigues and internal politics of the CCP. Xi’s father was a major figure in the CCP who was purged and later rehabilitated. This book briefly touches on all of this, but it is not enough to grasp the historical context required to make sense of this material. If you do not already know China’s history, you will have difficulty understanding this book.Instead of this book, I would recommend reading Kissinger’s book and then reading the 14 October 2017 issue of the Economist to gain some degree of understanding of the importance and future implications of Xi Jinping.

China as a country which has developed rapidly since the days of Mao. As this journey continues the role of the Chairman (or President) grows in significance. And this certainly hasn’t changed for Xi. CEO, China provides a combination of biography of Xi Jinping with a deep overview of the Chinese political system. It takes you from Jinping’s early days to today where he is transforming his party and government to tackle some of the greater challenges of 21st century (new-age communism, Internet, growth etc.).Three key takeaways from the book:1. Xi successfully applied for the Chinese Communist party after ten failed attempts!2. Xi was the chair of the 2008 Olympic Committee which provided visibility into his succession as the future Chairman.3. Xi is known as the ‘Chairman of Everything’ meaning he is the chair of four of the eight most wide-ranging groups in jurisdiction. Said differently he has the most central role in terms of social, political, security and diplomatic issues for China.

This books situates Chairman Xi as one of the great practitioners of power. What is power? What is it for? How to acquire it? The author looks at Xi through the lens of traditional Chinese statecraft, Western political science traditions and organizational theory, to make up for the lack of transparency and evidence inherent in the subject. Much use is made of official and semiofficial spokespersons for the CCP. Readers who are interested in a new approach to looking at China may profit from this book.

Quite a tour de force. Kerry Brown is a prolific writer on matters Chinese. In this work, published in 2016, he explored with remarkable flair the true bases of power in modern China in the era of Xi Jinping who has, of course, assumed more and more authority in the intervening years. I am not personally competent to judge whether this portrayal is entirely accurate but it is certainly compelling. It describes a remarkably fluid system in which those at the very top shape the course of the rising superpower more through vision and policy than through direct control. Execution is delegated to loyal followers within the Communist Party of China. It has proved to be an extraordinary success story to date, achieving economic development unprecedented in its scope and speed over the past few decades.Yet it contains none of the basic pillars held by Western leaders to be essential to success: the rule of law, economic liberalism and democracy. Coming at a time when western liberalism threatens to disintegrate from within, following the economic collapse of 2007-8 and the rise of illiberal populism, it is not difficult to see why Xi and others hold it up as a powerful alternative system of governance.Kerry provides a very lucid and enthralling portrait of one of the central mysteries of our time.

While the title and cover of the book may mislead some toward the notion that CEO, China may be some kind of sensationalist piece, focused upon how Xi Jinping, as many sources proclaim, is the most powerful Chinese leader since Mao, and therefore, would be heavy on the sensationalism, and low on the academic dimension, nothing could be further from the truth.CEO, China is a highly academic and thoroughly analytical work that understands and explains the nature and dimensions of power within modern China. So, rather than being purely a biographical work on Mr Xi Jinping, the book also contains analysis of China's political system, and projections upon China's path of development.Understanding China's political system is a difficult task to say the least. It is opaque and enigmatic, even to those with insider's views. Therefore, any works that claim to have a clear analysis or understanding should be met with skepticism, although Kerry Brown makes no such claims within his work. Rather, he acknowledges the complexity of the task, and makes no grandiose pronouncements.As well as a decent analysis of China's political system, that would bring those unfamiliar partially up to speed, and perhaps shed some new light for those already well versed (including this reader) Brown also provides a decent background on Xi's father, Xi Zhongxun, revealing him to be a rather moderate and noble figure among the 8 Immortals (Xi Zhongxun's inclusion in this group is disputed).However, the biography and insight into Mr Xi Jinping himself is just as good as the rest of the book. Among the questions many will be curious about is, how did Xi Jinping rise to power? It is a question that has baffled many, including this reader, and there are no simple explanations. The clear reason why this invites speculations is that Xi clearly was not the preferred choice of his predecessor, Hu Jintao, who would clearly have preferred his protege from the Youth League Li Keqiang, however, the explanation that Xi Jinping is a "Jiang man" also fails to adequately explain his rise.Brown makes no grand statements, rather he offers the context of Xi's life and career with the explanation that all the tests in local government, national government, coupled with background and service, could mean that he considered "the right stuff" by a sufficient amount of the party's brokers to inherit the party's scepter and orb.Kerry Brown also offers insight into Xi's domestic agenda and his foreign policy views, with enough to make possible projections of where the party and China is headed, and the possible pitfalls along the way.Brown makes no pronouncements of Xi being all powerful, rather he acknowledges the reality that power is a fragile thing, and it can be lost if one makes sufficient enemies, or makes a false step. Similarly, Brown posits a well known, but rarely acknowledged reality, that real danger lies within the party itself in the form of Maoists, and if a Maoist was to rise high enough, and carried sufficient charisma (ala Bo Xilai) Xi (and arguably the country) could be in serious trouble.On the whole, CEO, China is both immensely readable, and insightful. It is a truly penetrating analysis of the nature of power in modern China, and gives a thoroughly balanced and insightful perspective on China's current, Paramount Leader.

Some interesting detail, but overall a bit disappointing for its lack of depth and detail, particularly on the life and rise of Xi Jinping himself. Also fairly repetitive in its descriptions of the workings of the hierarchy and decision making within the party. But maybe that’s the main revelation: how mundane the ideology and the processes behind the man.Also, reading this now (2022), some of the content is of course outdated.

A clear, readable, informative and balanced study of a man little known in the West, but of immense importance, not just for China but for the world.

very interesting