China’s system of government contains something which is closer to an unknown unknown. This is the role of “leading small groups” (lingdao xiaozu): shadowy committees that often eclipse the power of more public political structures. For years, it was not even known how many there were, how often they met, who was in them or what they did. The situation is hardly clearer today. But research conducted by a Chinese scholar and two analysts at a German think-tank called the Mercator Institute for China Studies (MERICS) provides fresh insight into the groups and their make-up. It suggests that Xi Jinping, the country’s president, is using them in a new way. Read more
