Episode 46
China’s Politics and Economy as the Winter Olympics Open
Released on February 5, 2022
Download a transcript of this episode here
The eyes of the world are on China as Beijing hosts the Winter Olympics.
A successful Games will be used by leader Xi Jinping to bolster his image and status at home and abroad; a status that was given a significant boost in November, when a major meeting of the Communist Party effectively enshrined his position in the party’s historical pantheon, alongside Mao Zedong and Deng Xiaoping.
But while the opening ceremonies and stage-managed meetings played out without a hitch, there are still major tests for the Chinese leadership. This is especially true on the economic front, as growth slows, and concerns about a crisis in the property market persist. In this episode we look at the state of play in Chinese politics and economics with two well-placed observers.
Dr Ling Li teaches Chinese politics and law at the University of Vienna, where she was also a visiting professor. She has written extensively on topics related to corruption and anti-corruption in China.
And Dr Isabella Weber is an Assistant Professor of Economics and the Research Leader for China of the Asian Political Economy Program at the Political Economy Research Institute at the University of Massachusetts Amherst. Her recent book, ‘How China Escaped Shock Therapy: The Market Reform Debate’ provides a detailed history and analysis of the debates around economic reform in 1908s China.
Featured Guests
Ling Li (@lingli_vienna)
Ling Li teaches Chinese politics and law at the University of Vienna, where she was also a visiting professor. She previously taught various courses on Chinese law at the Northwest University of Political Science and Law in China. Between 2010 and 2015, she worked as a senior research fellow at the US-Asia Law Institute of New York University School of Law and remains as a non-resident fellow of the same institute. She received her Ph.D. from Leiden University Law School.
Isabella Weber (@IsabellaMWeber)
Isabella Weber is an Assistant Professor Economics and the Research Leader for China of the Asian Political Economy Program at the Political Economy Research Institute at the University of Massachusetts Amherst. Her book How China Escaped Shock Therapy: The Market Reform Debate won the 2021 Joan Robinson Prize. She holds a Ph.D. in Economics from the New School for Social Research, New York, and a Ph.D. in Development Studies from the University of Cambridge and was a visiting researcher at Tsinghua University.