Chinese Politics in the Era of Xi Jinping (2015), by Willy Wo-Lap Lam, can be considered as one of the earliest and most comprehensive analyses of Xi Jinping’s political career. Xi became the General Secretary of the Communist Party of China (CPC) in 2012 and President of the People’s Republic of China in 2013. Lam, an Adjunct Professor at the Chinese University of Hong Kong and a veteran observer of Chinese elite politics, assesses whether Xi’s governance represents political renewal, meaningful reform, or a retrogressive return to centralised authoritarianism. To answer this question, the author turns to account Chinese-language sources, elite interviews, and his long-term engagement with CPC politics.
The book is structured into six sections and covers developments up to 2015. It does not engage with the most recent challenges faced by the Xi administration, yet it provides historical references to understand the momentum and direction of Xi’s leadership. It situates him within the factional and institutional landscape of the CPC. Lam calls Xi a ‘princeling,’ the son of Xi Zhongxun, a revolutionary leader who was once close to Mao Zedong but later purged. Xi faced remarkable failure at the beginning of his political career, but his revolutionary pedigree enabled him to navigate elite politics. His early roles were technocratic and managerial in nature, which differed from the reformist figures associated with bold policy experimentation. Thus, Xi’s rise was subject to political manoeuvring, coalition-building, and the cultivation of support across party, military, and bureaucratic networks rather than ideological innovation. The author traces the internal negotiations, factional compromises, and patron–client ties that shaped the leadership transition from Hu Jintao to Xi Jinping. He highlights the persistence of informal power structures within the CPC.
Lam has also paid considerable attention to Xi’s personal background and image-building. The author explores the influence of family lineage and, particularly, his wife, Peng Liyuan, on Xi’s public legitimacy. Lam states that Xi is the first top leader since the Cultural Revolution to give equal weight to economic construction and ideological discipline. This is a departure from the post-Deng era, where leaders emphasised economic growth coupled with relative ideological flexibility.
A central theme of the book revolves around Xi’s ideological orientation and governing style. Xi’s allusion to the ‘Great Renaissance of the Chinese Nation’ serves both as a nationalist narrative and as a framework to reinforce political control. Compared to the collective leadership model institutionalised after Deng Xiaoping in order to prevent the concentration of power, Xi has centralised authority and expanded his personal influence over the party, the state, and particularly the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) over a period of time. Lam mentions Xi’s linkage with the PLA and his leadership of newly created bodies such as the Central National Security Commission. Such commissions bring security, foreign policy, and internal control directly under his command.
The anti-corruption campaign initiated by the Xi administration necessitates scrutiny. Although it addresses governance issues, the campaign also serves as a tool to sideline political rivals and weaken alternative factional bases. The purge of high-ranking officials underscores how loyalty has become a prerequisite for survival and advancement within the CCP. This approach marks a shift away from the previous years, when internal debate and bureaucratic balancing were tolerated. Under Xi, dissent is framed as disloyalty rather than a difference of opinion. At the same time, an effort to ‘close the Chinese mind’ aims to isolate Chinese society from external political ideas. However, it poses long-term implications for China’s intellectual and economic vitality.
The book sheds light on Xi’s domestic consolidation as an implication for the broader geopolitical posture. Lam observes a more assertive Chinese foreign policy, particularly in the East and South China Seas, as well as in countering American influence in the Asia-Pacific. While this assertiveness strengthens nationalist legitimacy at home, the author cautions that it may complicate China’s diplomatic and economic relations abroad.
In conclusion, Lam raises fundamental questions about the nature of governance and civilisation in contemporary China, including why both privileged and disadvantaged social groups appear disengaged from reform, why China has become a global power without a world-class culture, and why the ‘Chinese Dream’ remains elusive. He affirms that Xi’s leadership has strengthened the CCP’s grip on power but at the cost of political openness, institutional balance, and intellectual pluralism. It suggests that the era of Xi Jinping leans more towards retrogression than genuine reform.
Hritika is a Research Analyst, Geopolitics & Geoeconomics, PIC.