The market embraces China's
leaders By Antoaneta Bezlova
BEIJING - When the Chinese Communist Party
(CCP) on Monday unveiled its new leadership lineup
that will govern the nation of 1.3 billion and
manage the world's fastest-growing economy for the
next five years, the only genuine excitement was
arguably felt among the business observers of this
ritual.
China Times - a financial
newspaper read by the well-heeled urban elite -
enthused about the "market value" of the 17th CCP
Congress, describing its
achievements in terms of the stock-market frenzy
engulfing the country. The value of Chinese stocks
has increased six times in the past two years and
when the party meeting opened last week the
benchmark Shanghai Composite Index shot above
6,000 points for the first time.
"Five
years ago when the Communist Party held its 16th
Congress, the presence of the country's stock
markets was virtually negligible," the paper said
in a front page commentary, "but now China has 25
trillion yuan [US$3.4 trillion] value of stocks
listed on its markets and the volume of shares
traded is among the world's highest."
While the rhetoric at the congress has
been all about building a "harmonious society" and
redistributing wealth more fairly throughout
society, the buzz outside of the power corridors
is about trading gold and shares, choosing mutual
funds and speculating on property.
Millions of individual investors have
poured their savings into China's bullish markets
and they want assurances that new party leaders
will do nothing to undercut shares.
"I
know little about the new leaders elected to the
Politburo this time beyond what newspapers say,"
says Michael Gao, an avid stock trader. "I don't
mind the secrecy as long as they [the leadership]
are business-minded and understand the money
culture these days."
Gao, whose day job is
coaching tennis, has put all his savings into
shares and is contemplating diversifying some of
his investments into gold. "Gold is the new fad,"
he says, "not only because it is profitable but
because it could prove less risky if the
government changes its market policies."
But drastic changes are not on the newly
elected leadership's agenda for the next five
years. At the congress that ended on Monday, they
endorsed the continuation of the long-standing
policy of economic growth and stability that has
been the party's essential mantra for the past 30
years.
But they also pledged to pay more
attention to the downsides of China's rapid
economic expansion, such as rising inequality, a
disintegrating social safety net and rampant
pollution. Despite efforts to equalize growth
among rural and urban areas, rural incomes at $466
a year remain less than one-third those of city
dwellers.
"China must strive for
scientific development by putting people first and
making it comprehensive, balanced and
sustainable," re-elected party chief Hu Jintao
said after introducing his new team to the media
on Monday.
For the urban poor not trading
stocks and for the 700 million Chinese peasants,
the party's new pledges sound little different
from the socialist bureaucratic jargon they have
grown accustomed to hearing over the years.
"There is nothing I expect from this
leadership," says migrant worker Yang Yegang, who
toils on the building sites of Beijing's expanding
suburbs. "The delegates to the party congress call
themselves 'people's representatives' but they
live the lives of the privileged."
While
ordinary Chinese tend to see the congress as
remote from their daily lives, this time around
they have been affected by the two-month "safety
campaign" waged by the communist leadership.
Obsessed with preventing any kind of
social protest disrupting the "tranquility" of the
party meeting, the authorities had mobilized
840,000 volunteers, according to the Beijing Youth
Daily, to help the police sweep Beijing streets
clean of troublemakers.
"In our
neighborhood it feels like during the days of the
communes - all the elderly and everybody out of
work is wearing red armbands and watching the
neighbors," says Ren Shuhui, who is employed as a
maid.
China watchers for their part have
been reading the tea leaves, striving to foresee
how the country's new roster of political stars
might influence government policy.
Five of
the nine members of the Politburo Standing
Committee, the country's top ruling body, are
retaining their posts. Hu Jintao, 64, stays on as
party chief and president for another five years.
So does premier Wen Jiabao, 65, who remains in
charge of the government. Their re-election paves
the way for the nation's parliament to rename Hu
as president and military head and Wen as premier
at its annual session in March next year.
But two newly promoted provincial leaders
and members of the so-called "fifth generation" of
Chinese leaders, have been making the headlines in
expectations that they would inherit the posts of
party secretary and premier in five years time.
They are the 54-year-old Shanghai party secretary
Xi Jinping, and the 52-year-old Li Keqiang, party
chief of the northeastern Liaoning province.
Both Xi and Li were born after the
communist takeover in 1949. Unlike their
predecessors from the "fourth generation" who
majored in the technocratic fields, both new
leaders studied in the social sciences. Xi holds a
degree in law. Li received a PhD in economics from
Peking University.
"They are a product of
China's reform and opening up," says Mao Shoulong,
a professor of political science at Renmin
University. "Their political careers are not
driven by memories of extreme periods like the
Cultural Revolution. They are savvy, open-minded
and exposed to international ideas."
Xi,
who is seen as the top-runner to succeed Hu
Jintao, is a party "princeling" or a privileged
child of a party elder. His father, Xi Zhongxun,
is one of the founding members of China's
Communist Party. Xi shot to prominence this year
when he was chosen as a Shanghai party chief after
the purge of his predecessor in one of China's
biggest corruption scandals.
Li Keqiang
doesn't share Xi's illustrious background but
enjoys the support of current party chief Hu
Jintao. Li's relationship with Hu goes back 20
years since they worked together in the Communist
Youth League. His political record though is
tainted with scandal. While working as a party
secretary of Henan province, China's largest
agricultural province, he did little to contain a
spreading AIDS crisis. Up to 1 million peasants
are said to have contracted the disease after
selling their blood at virus-spreading collection
centers operated by corrupt officials.
Head
Office: Unit B, 16/F, Li Dong Building, No. 9 Li Yuen Street East,
Central, Hong Kong Thailand Bureau:
11/13 Petchkasem Road, Hua Hin, Prachuab Kirikhan, Thailand 77110
