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Will Xi Jinping’s new leadership team prove the doomsayers wrong?

Investors seem convinced the government lacks the knowhow and independence to mount an effective response to the economic challenges faced by China

Though financial markets had already priced in Xi’s third term, investors hoped that he would appoint a team of more moderate, experienced officials capable of putting pragmatism above politics
Though financial markets had already priced in Xi’s third term, investors hoped that he would appoint a team of more moderate, experienced officials capable of putting pragmatism above politics Photo: Hugo Hu/Getty Images

Minxin Pei, professor of government at Claremont McKenna College, is a non-resident senior fellow at the German Marshall Fund of the United States

The new leadership team selected by Chinese President Xi Jinping at the 20th National Congress of the Communist Party of China failed to impress financial markets at home and abroad. In the week following the announcement of Xi’s new team, Hong Kong’s stock market declined by 8.3% and the Shanghai Composite Index, China’s largest stock exchange, dropped by 4% despite the Chinese government’s intervention to prop up prices. US-listed Chinese stocks plunged by 15%.

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