With Xi Jinping facing challenges on multiple fronts, can China’s helmsman navigate through stormy seas?

Xi Jinping began an unprecedented third term as China’s president in March, vowing to navigate risks, having received unanimous support from the national legislature

But China’s norm-breaking president is facing increased competition with the US on the world stage, and a struggling domestic economy at home

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Xi Jinping vowed to navigate China through the risks ahead after being handed a norm-breaking third term as president in March, but is now facing increased competition with the US and a struggling economy at home. Illustration: Lau Ka-kuen

Kinling Loin BeijingandKandy Wongin Hong Kong

Published: 6:00am, 28 Aug 2023Updated: 9:18am, 28 Aug 2023

This is the second part in a series about what China’s two seniormost leaders are doing, and the challenges they face, in trying to guide the nation through economic and financial turmoil. Read the first part here.

When President Xi Jinping gave his speech before kicking off his norm-breaking third term in March, he vowed to lead China through a “turbulent decade” and to sail the country through “dangerous storms” ahead.

But more than five months in, having been given unanimous support by the national legislature after the presidential term limit was scrapped to extend his unprecedented tenure, the country is in deeper unchartered waters.

On the international front, China has been engaged in an all-encompassing competition with the United States in areas from trade and tech to security.

This has spilled over to having other developed economies call for so-called de-risking in their supply chains, further hindering China’s aim to become a top global exporter and tech power.

Xi is facing challenges on multiple fronts, and they are interconnected

Yeling Tan

And on the domestic front, there is a new backdrop. China’s domestic economy is struggling to recover, and structural problems are becoming ever more apparent than at any point over the last decade of Xi’s rule.

This all could, analysts said, culminate in a defining moment for Xi. Hailed as China’s “helmsman” and “navigator” by state media and his political aides, Xi has a chance to shape his legacy during another five-year term.