At a recent high-level government conference in Beijing, senior officials basked in China’s success the past year in its trade war with Donald Trump, boasting that the country’s system of state-directed planning was superior to unfettered US-style capitalism.
“Our five-year planning system ensures policy consistency and continuity — something western politicians can never achieve given their constant changes of government,” one senior cadre told the gathering of about 200 people in a central Beijing hotel.
For Beijing, the tariff war is the clearest evidence yet that President Xi Jinping’s strategy of investing heavily in high-tech production and industrial self-reliance is paying off, despite persistent deflation at home and growing complaints from abroad about soaring Chinese trade surpluses.