How China Misperceives Itself
Key takeaways
- FRANCESCA GHIRETTI is Director of the Economic Security and Resilience Initiative and Research Leader for China and Economic Security at RAND Europe.
- Great powers rarely fail because they are unaware of their problems.
- China today faces an imposing list of challenges that it needs to assess and address.
FRANCESCA GHIRETTI is Director of the Economic Security and Resilience Initiative and Research Leader for China and Economic Security at RAND Europe.
Great powers rarely fail because they are unaware of their problems. More often, they fall apart because they misidentify or only partially identify the root of those problems. The ability to accurately diagnose weaknesses, to distinguish between temporary constraints and structural limits, and to generate the political will to fix deep-seated problems separates states that adapt and thrive from those that stagnate or crumble.
China today faces an imposing list of challenges that it needs to assess and address. Economic growth is slowing, the population is aging, the financial system is under stress, and other countries have been tightening trade controls and scaling up their own industrial policies to compete. For many years, China’s economic expansion could mask the country’s underlying vulnerabilities. That era is now over. And in party documents and major speeches alike, leaders in Beijing admit these pressures and acknowledge the country’s weaknesses.