Xi’s Expanding Power Is a Growing Risk for China’s Economy

Even as President Xi Jinping looks set to rule indefinitely as China’s most powerful leader since Mao Zedong, that doesn’t mean he always gets what he wants. Recent policy actions show the difficulty he faces managing a sprawling bureaucracy in the world’s second-biggest economy: Officials either take orders too far, as in the case of coal mine and power plant supervisors who worsened a national energy crisis, or they’re so paralyzed by fear they fail to take autonomous decisions — even during major crises such as unprecedented flooding or an emerging pandemic.

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