Delegates from Hong Kong who made the pilgrimage to the mainland to take part in the National People’s Congress in mid-March came away impressed with the capability of Chinese president Xi Jinping, the most powerful leader of China since Deng Xiaoping. “He will never let the economy fall apart,” one delegate said.
Their only doubt? The outsized vigour with which Mr Xi is pursuing his anti-corruption campaign. This delegate complained bitterly about being put up at a three star hotel in which even bottled water was not supplied, let alone whisky or fine wine.
Meanwhile, across the Pacific, many people have sounded the alarm about Beijing’s ability to rein in credit growth and rebalance the economy more towards domestic demand and services and away from commodity-intensive fixed asset investment. But in Hong Kong and China itself, faith in the ability of the government to correct the excesses created by the 2009 stimulus programme has, if anything, increased under the current regime.