The China dream
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Lately, there's a phrase being used in China which I hear a lot: "the China Dream". It was one of the main themes of President Xi's speech at the National People's Congress (NPC) in March, and since then I've attended several meetings in which Chinese gov
So what is the China Dream, and why has it struck such a chord with so many Chinese?
In just a short time it already seems to have resonated as strongly as the theme of President Xi’s predecessor, Hu Jintao: “the Scientific Outlook on Development”.
In his inaugural address last month, carried live on almost every TV channel, China’s new leader called for a “great renaissance of the Chinese nation” and the return of China to the status it enjoyed many centuries ago as one of the world’s preeminent powers.
Unlike the “American Dream”, which is all about the opportunity for each individual to achieve success through hard work, the China Dream is about working together.
“The Chinese spirit brings us together and builds our country together. To create the China Dream we must unite all Chinese power,” Xi said.
The concept has been getting a lot of international media attention.
The New York Times summed up the China Dream as meaning “national rejuvenation, improvement of people’s livelihoods, prosperity, construction of a better society and military strengthening as the common dream of the Chinese people that can be best achieved under one party, Socialist rule.”
That’s an ambitious set of goals, but is in keeping with the specific targets for national growth and development set out by last month’s NPC session and the concurrent Chinese People’s Political Consultative Congress meeting.
Some have interpreted Xi’s emphasis on the China Dream as his attempt to address a “spiritual vacuum” at the heart of China’s economic miracle, a vacuum he is keen to fill with a sense that the country can recreate its glorious history.
This search for a better balance between spiritual and material needs and desires is something that I see more and more in Chinese society.
It helps explain, for example, the blockbuster success of the Chinese movie “Lost in Thailand”, which dealt with this spiritual and emotional quest.
Will Xi’s China Dream become one of the major recurring themes of China’s development and nationhood over the next 10 years – the time he has in power? It would not surprise me.
Some concerns have been expressed that the China Dream poses a threat to other countries with its assertion that China is reclaiming its rightful place of dominance in the world pantheon.
A healthy sense of patriotism, it is argued, could quickly turn into overt nationalism, antagonising China’s trading partners and undercutting economic development.
Let’s hope that Xi and his colleagues are too smart to allow this to happen, and can achieve real nation-building and a genuine return to the era when China was a good example to the world in so many ways.
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