JadeWeserPort competes with Panama + Pragmatism beats ideology

Dear reader,

From now on, the China-Europe Express route will connect the cities of Ningbo and Wilhelmshaven – the first container ship is expected to arrive at JadeWeserPort today. This will shorten the route from China to Europe from 40 to 26 days, as the container ships will no longer make (time-consuming) stopovers.

The parties involved plan to turn the port into an important logistics hub. On the one hand, for European hinterland transportation, for example, to Hungary, where BYD and CATL are based. It is also an attractive option for transshipment traffic. In other words, it opens up an alternative to the maritime route from China to the US East Coast, which runs through the Panama Canal.

The direct connection to Wilhelmshaven could become China’s ace in the looming dispute with the US over control of the strategically important water link between the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans in Central America. Christian Domke-Seidel reports on the plans of Chinese freight companies, which are already referring to the JadeWeserPort as part of the New Silk Road. This has caused irritation because Germany is not a partner in the Chinese infrastructure project.

Xi Jinping is by no means an ideologue, but an absolute pragmatist. His approach, strategies and tactics are not based on doctrines, but on his ultimate goal: securing the one-party regime and his own rule. This is the thesis of today’s China Perspective column by authors from the People’s Republic. They say that this realization is a ray of hope for Xi’s opponents: He can be flexible and transactional – if need be.

Have a pleasant end to the week.

Your
Julia Fiedler

JadeWeserPort: How China found its love for a German deep-water port

By

Christian Domke Seidel

Aerial photos of the JadeWeserPort (JWP) in Wilhelmshaven reveal how a lot of green meets a lot of blue. The blue must be there, it’s the North Sea. After all, the JadeWeserPort is Germany’s only deep-water port. However, the states of Bremen and Lower Saxony and the operating companies Eurogate and APM Terminals International imagined the green differently when the port opened in 2012.

Instead of green spaces, logistics infrastructure was supposed to have been created. However, until now, there has been a lack of interested parties. But that is changing. Not least thanks to new connections with China.

When it opened, JadeWeserPort announced the goal of handling one million TEU (twenty-foot equivalent units) per year – one million 20-foot containers – in the near future. So far, this has not been achieved even once. The aim is to reach this mark in 2025. A new customer gives reason for optimism: Zhejiang Seaport, a Ningbo Zhoushan Port Group subsidiary.

China’s new love affair with JadeWeserPort

Zhejiang Seaport will initially rent a 31,700-square-meter building in the JWP but plans to create a total logistics area of 140,000 square meters. The company also maintains a direct connection between the port in Ningbo and the JWP. This means that the container ships will no longer have to make any (time-consuming) stopovers and will only spend 26 days traveling instead of 40. With around 35 million TEU, Ningbo is the third-largest port in the world in terms of container throughput.

“We are firmly convinced that the JadeWeserPort provides an optimal logistics hub, both for the planned European hinterland transports and for additional transshipment services toward the East Coast of America,” said Seaport CEO Tao Chengbo at the presentation of the cooperation. The JWP has long been exploring cooperation with American ports. This would give Seaport an alternative route to the Panama Canal.

The time-saving direct connection to Wilhelmshaven has thus become China’s ace in the looming dispute with the US over control of the strategically important water link between the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans in Central America. US President Donald Trump had complained that American ships had to pay twice as much as Chinese ships and announced plans to “take back” the Panama Canal. With an alternative up its sleeve, China can breathe a bit easier.

Ships from China travel across the Pacific and via the Panama Canal to the US East Coast in an average of 35-40 days.

New Silk Road in Germany?

Zhejiang Seaport and the JWP describe the partnership as part of the New Silk Road, or Belt and Road Initiative (BRI). The People’s Republic’s infrastructure initiative is politically controversial, and Germany is not a member state. “It is a bit irritating that they are marketing their cooperation this way. But as far as I know, it’s not officially recognized as part of the BRI by any German or Chinese government agency. It looks more like marketing,” Jacob Gunter says in an interview with Table.Briefings. He is Lead Analyst Economy at the Mercator Institute for China Studies (Merics).

Marc Oliver Hauswald, Managing Director of Jade-Weser-Port, also clarifies: “The Ningbo Zhoushan Port Groups also calls the cooperation the Silk Road and markets it as such. In our case, however, I don’t see it being massively subsidized by the Chinese government or even leading to dependencies. It’s more of a title that the Chinese like to use.”

An explanation that also makes sense in Gunter’s eyes: “It is a state-owned company, and it is in their interest to present a connection to Germany in their home country – this is an internal, political victory.” However, he sees no reason for skepticism. “If we were to become skeptical, we would have to become skeptical about every Cosco ship approaching a European port.”

Eliminating stopovers reduces the travel time from China to Europe from 40 to 26 days.

According to Hauswald, Zhejiang Seaport has not acquired a stake in JWP – unlike Cosco in Hamburg or Piraeus, for example – and is merely a client, like Nordfrost or Audi. “They want to market us as a sister port in their network and build up a corresponding network. That’s why they signed a long-term lease with one of our customers within the JWP last year.” They are “a long way away” from entering the critical infrastructure – as in Piraeus. The project involves a “completely different process, which has nothing to do with an investment and therefore control in critical infrastructures.”

Zhejiang Seaport uses the port as a hub

Indeed, the interests of Zhejiang Seaport appear to be much more pragmatic. The deep-water port operates a railroad station with a total of 16 tracks, which can be used to send goods quickly through Germany and further east. After the arrival of the first cargo ship with 2,400 TEU, which was announced for this Friday, the first three trains were also already planned.

“As a first step, the company intends to establish continuous hinterland rail transports via the JWP towards Hungary, as electromobility clusters are there. Among others, this is where BYD and CATL are based, and they need materials for their production. The products manufactured there are then shipped back to Northern Europe by rail, with the JWP also taking on an important logistical hub function here,” explains Hauswald.

How JadeWeserPort turns into a global hub

Zhejiang Seaport is not the only player boosting goods traffic from China at JWP. Maersk and Hapag-Lloyd have founded the Gemini Corporation, which aims to establish a direct connection from China. Gemini is a partnership between the two shipping companies that aims to coordinate their global shipping logistics. To this end, they require central hubs for their container giants, from which smaller ships then distribute the containers. The JWP is set to serve as one of these hubs. In addition to the connection, Hapag-Lloyd’s 30 percent stake in the port also speaks in favor of this decision.

The JWP has also long since adapted to this development. It is currently 1.8 kilometers long and designed for 2.7 million TEU. Although the port currently handles less than half of this, there is talk of expanding the port and its capacities. “The demand here is enormous. In the past, we were happy to get any interested parties at all through tenders. Today, we can set conditions such as handling guarantees,” says Hauswald. Zhejiang Seaport provides these guarantees.

Tariffs: Chinese EV manufacturers take case to EU court

Several Chinese EV manufacturers have filed a complaint with the European Court of Justice (ECJ) against the European Union’s punitive tariffs. The privately owned manufacturers BYD and Geely, as well as the state-owned producer SAIC, initiated corresponding steps on Tuesday, one day before the deadline, according to statements on the court’s website. No further details were initially disclosed. The EU Commission stated that it was aware of the cases. It now has two months and ten days to respond.

It was initially unclear whether other car manufacturers or industry associations, including European companies with production in China and the export association CCCME, which represents Chinese companies, would also take legal action against the extra tariffs. Among others, BMW imports the electric Mini from China, the Volkswagen Group imports the Cupra model Tavascan, and Renault imports vehicles from its subsidiary Dacia.

Since the end of October, additional tariffs of between 17 and 35.3 percent apply to Chinese EVs. It is the EU Commission’s response to what it considers to be unfair subsidies by the People’s Republic. rtr

Chips: China and the Netherlands want to stabilize supply chains

China’s Vice Premier Ding Xuexiang has called for stronger cooperation with the Netherlands to maintain the smooth functioning of global semiconductor supply chains. On April 1, the Netherlands announced stricter export controls on advanced semiconductor equipment. At a meeting with Dutch King Willem-Alexander in The Hague, Ding said that China wishes to strengthen mutual trust.

Just over a year ago, the Dutch government revoked certain export licenses for local chip supplier ASML’s business with China after the US accused Beijing of using them for military purposes. ASML recently announced that the new export controls would not affect its business.

Last fall, ASML CEO Christophe Fouquet predicted that sales in China would only account for 20 percent of total sales in the future (after 50 percent in the previous quarters). According to the company, the sale of older machines, which are not subject to any restrictions, will account for 50 percent of total sales. niw/rtr

South China Sea: US vows to continue support for the Philippines

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio has criticized China’s “dangerous and destabilizing actions in the South China Sea” in a conversation with his Philippine counterpart. Rubio assured him that the US would continue its “ironclad” commitment to the defense of the Philippines. According to a statement from the US Department of Defense, Rubio discussed ways to advance security cooperation, expand economic ties and deepen regional cooperation. The statement accused China’s conduct of undermining regional peace and stability and being in violation of international law.

The Philippines and China are in dispute over the control of areas in the South China Sea. China does not recognize the Philippines’ claim to certain areas within its exclusive economic zone. The Chinese Foreign Ministry described China’s activities in the South China Sea as “reasonable, lawful and beyond reproach.” Ministry spokeswoman Mao Ning said at a press conference that the United States was “not a party” to the dispute over the South China Sea and had “no right to interfere” in maritime affairs between China and the Philippines. “Military cooperation between the U.S. and the Philippines should not undermine China’s sovereignty and maritime rights and interests in the South China Sea, nor should it be used to endorse the illegal claims of the Philippines,” Mao said.

Marco Rubio also met his counterparts from Australia, India and Japan at the Quad Forum on Tuesday. The Quad members and the Philippines share concerns about China’s actions in the South China Sea. Rubio advocates cooperation between the parties when dealing with China. lp/rtr

Election frontrunner Merz: No guarantees for China losses

Companies should not rely on state support when they suffer losses in business with China. CDU/CSU election frontrunner Friedrich Merz said this on the fringes of a foreign policy speech at the Körber Foundation. It was out of the question for companies to deliberately seek out the risk of investing in China and for the state to then have to socialize any losses. Referring to China, he said: “This is not a constitutional state by our standards.” According to Merz, even companies that are only in talks with Chinese companies “must expect major disruption.”

Referring to China and Russia, Merz had previously emphasized that both countries were part of a “revanchist, anti-liberal axis of states” that openly sought systemic competition with liberal democracies and that the principles of the liberal, rules-based international order were being eroded. Merz proposed “a permanent European naval base” in the Indo-Pacific.

Merz announced that he would travel to China for a working visit if elected chancellor on February 23. Given the difficult economic situation, he would meet a Chinese leadership that was “not without worries,” he said. niw/rtr

Does Xi Jinping still believe in communism?

As a Chinese, I am frequently asked the following questions: How many CCP members believe in communism? Do you think Xi Jinping believes in it? The US ambassador to China, Nicholas Burns, got the second question in one of his exit interviews two weeks ago: Is Xi Jinping an ideologue or pragmatist?

Burns didn’t answer the question directly. Instead, he said he saw Xi’s belief in the communist party and that it had made the party more powerful than it had been since Deng Xiaoping. “The party now controls everything,” he said, referring to Xi’s success in stripping the real power of other government organizations, such as the State Council. In addition, Burns said the party is now literally in the hands of one person – Xi himself.

Burns’ observations are correct, even if his remarks were somewhat vague. It should be made clear that Xi’s belief in the communist party is only about the party as a tool to rule, not about communist theories as something that could inspire people.

In short, Xi is not an ideologue at all. He is an absolute pragmatist. His approach, strategies and tactics are not based on doctrines, but on his ultimate goals, securing the one-party regime and his dominance of the whole system. As terrible as this sounds, it could also be the silver lining for his adversaries: he can be flexible and transactional when necessary.

Communism died a long time ago in China

Communism as an ideology basically went bankrupt in China after the Cultural Revolution (1966 – 1976). The only Marxist tenets that the CCP can still resort to are the theories on public ownership of key economic elements and the proletariat dictatorship (interpreted as the party’s dictatorship, though), which help justify its monopoly of power and the economy. But the party has been shunning away from the classic communist vision of the global future, which already sounds ridiculously unconvincing. It has been playing down the Marxist analysis of relations between capitalists and workers because it dangerously resonates with China’s contemporary reality.

Since the era of Deng Xiaoping, Chinese leaders rarely cite classic Marxist quotes. Apparently, they are also aware Marxism is irrelevant to the Chinese reality and to how they want to govern the country.

The new thoughts and theories

In place of the unapplicable Marxist theories, the Chinese Communist Party has been constantly generating new concepts and theories, from the “Deng Xiaoping Theory on Building Socialism with Chinese Characteristics” to Jiang Zemin’s “Three Represents” to the current “Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for the New Era.”

Burns mentioned that party officials must now go to party schools to study Marxism, Leninism and party texts. But he failed to say, or probably he was not aware, that the stress is on the “party texts,” which are mainly about these newly invented theories and, for the moment, Xi Thought.

Studying thoughts and theories mandatory for students

In addition to party officials, all Chinese university students must study Marxism, Leninism, Maoism and the “new thoughts.” They have to pass an exam on it; otherwise, they can’t graduate. Like in the party schools. The current emphasis is on the Xi Theory.

These new thoughts and so-called theory, are not real theories, let alone can they form a systematic ideology. They are more analyses of the current circumstances and detailed expounding of policies. If you want to know what they are, you can find them on the English website of the party journal “Qiushi.”

Making party officials and students study them is to try and cram their heads with the party texts. The officials and students know they are propaganda and generally don’t believe them. So, the party school training and the university classes are rituals that train attendees to be obedient.

Bewitching or unsettling? The scent of durian fruit is not to everyone’s taste. In China, however, they are highly coveted: durian imports broke all records in 2024 with a value of almost seven billion US dollars. That’s 15.6 billion kilograms of durians, according to the South China Morning Post. The popular tropical fruit traditionally comes mainly from Thailand. However, Vietnam attempts to dethrone Thailand as the biggest supplier. One of the factors affecting production there last year was an extreme heatwave. Climate change does not even spare durian fruits.

CHINA.TABLE EDITORIAL OFFICE

Amelie
Richter

Marcel
Grzanna

Fabian
Peltsch

Julia
Fiedler

Angela
Köckritz

Jörn
Petring

Dear reader,

From now on, the China-Europe Express route will connect the cities of Ningbo and Wilhelmshaven – the first container ship is expected to arrive at JadeWeserPort today. This will shorten the route from China to Europe from 40 to 26 days, as the container ships will no longer make (time-consuming) stopovers.

The parties involved plan to turn the port into an important logistics hub. On the one hand, for European hinterland transportation, for example, to Hungary, where BYD and CATL are based. It is also an attractive option for transshipment traffic. In other words, it opens up an alternative to the maritime route from China to the US East Coast, which runs through the Panama Canal.

The direct connection to Wilhelmshaven could become China’s ace in the looming dispute with the US over control of the strategically important water link between the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans in Central America. Christian Domke-Seidel reports on the plans of Chinese freight companies, which are already referring to the JadeWeserPort as part of the New Silk Road. This has caused irritation because Germany is not a partner in the Chinese infrastructure project.

Xi Jinping is by no means an ideologue, but an absolute pragmatist. His approach, strategies and tactics are not based on doctrines, but on his ultimate goal: securing the one-party regime and his own rule. This is the thesis of today’s China Perspective column by authors from the People’s Republic. They say that this realization is a ray of hope for Xi’s opponents: He can be flexible and transactional – if need be.

Have a pleasant end to the week.

Your
Julia Fiedler

JadeWeserPort: How China found its love for a German deep-water port

By

Christian Domke Seidel

Aerial photos of the JadeWeserPort (JWP) in Wilhelmshaven reveal how a lot of green meets a lot of blue. The blue must be there, it’s the North Sea. After all, the JadeWeserPort is Germany’s only deep-water port. However, the states of Bremen and Lower Saxony and the operating companies Eurogate and APM Terminals International imagined the green differently when the port opened in 2012.

Instead of green spaces, logistics infrastructure was supposed to have been created. However, until now, there has been a lack of interested parties. But that is changing. Not least thanks to new connections with China.

When it opened, JadeWeserPort announced the goal of handling one million TEU (twenty-foot equivalent units) per year – one million 20-foot containers – in the near future. So far, this has not been achieved even once. The aim is to reach this mark in 2025. A new customer gives reason for optimism: Zhejiang Seaport, a Ningbo Zhoushan Port Group subsidiary.

China’s new love affair with JadeWeserPort

Zhejiang Seaport will initially rent a 31,700-square-meter building in the JWP but plans to create a total logistics area of 140,000 square meters. The company also maintains a direct connection between the port in Ningbo and the JWP. This means that the container ships will no longer have to make any (time-consuming) stopovers and will only spend 26 days traveling instead of 40. With around 35 million TEU, Ningbo is the third-largest port in the world in terms of container throughput.

“We are firmly convinced that the JadeWeserPort provides an optimal logistics hub, both for the planned European hinterland transports and for additional transshipment services toward the East Coast of America,” said Seaport CEO Tao Chengbo at the presentation of the cooperation. The JWP has long been exploring cooperation with American ports. This would give Seaport an alternative route to the Panama Canal.

The time-saving direct connection to Wilhelmshaven has thus become China’s ace in the looming dispute with the US over control of the strategically important water link between the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans in Central America. US President Donald Trump had complained that American ships had to pay twice as much as Chinese ships and announced plans to “take back” the Panama Canal. With an alternative up its sleeve, China can breathe a bit easier.

New Silk Road in Germany?

Zhejiang Seaport and the JWP describe the partnership as part of the New Silk Road, or Belt and Road Initiative (BRI). The People’s Republic’s infrastructure initiative is politically controversial, and Germany is not a member state. “It is a bit irritating that they are marketing their cooperation this way. But as far as I know, it’s not officially recognized as part of the BRI by any German or Chinese government agency. It looks more like marketing,” Jacob Gunter says in an interview with Table.Briefings. He is Lead Analyst Economy at the Mercator Institute for China Studies (Merics).

Marc Oliver Hauswald, Managing Director of Jade-Weser-Port, also clarifies: “The Ningbo Zhoushan Port Groups also calls the cooperation the Silk Road and markets it as such. In our case, however, I don’t see it being massively subsidized by the Chinese government or even leading to dependencies. It’s more of a title that the Chinese like to use.”

An explanation that also makes sense in Gunter’s eyes: “It is a state-owned company, and it is in their interest to present a connection to Germany in their home country – this is an internal, political victory.” However, he sees no reason for skepticism. “If we were to become skeptical, we would have to become skeptical about every Cosco ship approaching a European port.”

According to Hauswald, Zhejiang Seaport has not acquired a stake in JWP – unlike Cosco in Hamburg or Piraeus, for example – and is merely a client, like Nordfrost or Audi. “They want to market us as a sister port in their network and build up a corresponding network. That’s why they signed a long-term lease with one of our customers within the JWP last year.” They are “a long way away” from entering the critical infrastructure – as in Piraeus. The project involves a “completely different process, which has nothing to do with an investment and therefore control in critical infrastructures.”

Zhejiang Seaport uses the port as a hub

Indeed, the interests of Zhejiang Seaport appear to be much more pragmatic. The deep-water port operates a railroad station with a total of 16 tracks, which can be used to send goods quickly through Germany and further east. After the arrival of the first cargo ship with 2,400 TEU, which was announced for this Friday, the first three trains were also already planned.

“As a first step, the company intends to establish continuous hinterland rail transports via the JWP towards Hungary, as electromobility clusters are there. Among others, this is where BYD and CATL are based, and they need materials for their production. The products manufactured there are then shipped back to Northern Europe by rail, with the JWP also taking on an important logistical hub function here,” explains Hauswald.

How JadeWeserPort turns into a global hub

Zhejiang Seaport is not the only player boosting goods traffic from China at JWP. Maersk and Hapag-Lloyd have founded the Gemini Corporation, which aims to establish a direct connection from China. Gemini is a partnership between the two shipping companies that aims to coordinate their global shipping logistics. To this end, they require central hubs for their container giants, from which smaller ships then distribute the containers. The JWP is set to serve as one of these hubs. In addition to the connection, Hapag-Lloyd’s 30 percent stake in the port also speaks in favor of this decision.

The JWP has also long since adapted to this development. It is currently 1.8 kilometers long and designed for 2.7 million TEU. Although the port currently handles less than half of this, there is talk of expanding the port and its capacities. “The demand here is enormous. In the past, we were happy to get any interested parties at all through tenders. Today, we can set conditions such as handling guarantees,” says Hauswald. Zhejiang Seaport provides these guarantees.

Tariffs: Chinese EV manufacturers take case to EU court

Several Chinese EV manufacturers have filed a complaint with the European Court of Justice (ECJ) against the European Union’s punitive tariffs. The privately owned manufacturers BYD and Geely, as well as the state-owned producer SAIC, initiated corresponding steps on Tuesday, one day before the deadline, according to statements on the court’s website. No further details were initially disclosed. The EU Commission stated that it was aware of the cases. It now has two months and ten days to respond.

It was initially unclear whether other car manufacturers or industry associations, including European companies with production in China and the export association CCCME, which represents Chinese companies, would also take legal action against the extra tariffs. Among others, BMW imports the electric Mini from China, the Volkswagen Group imports the Cupra model Tavascan, and Renault imports vehicles from its subsidiary Dacia.

Since the end of October, additional tariffs of between 17 and 35.3 percent apply to Chinese EVs. It is the EU Commission’s response to what it considers to be unfair subsidies by the People’s Republic. rtr

Chips: China and the Netherlands want to stabilize supply chains

China’s Vice Premier Ding Xuexiang has called for stronger cooperation with the Netherlands to maintain the smooth functioning of global semiconductor supply chains. On April 1, the Netherlands announced stricter export controls on advanced semiconductor equipment. At a meeting with Dutch King Willem-Alexander in The Hague, Ding said that China wishes to strengthen mutual trust.

Just over a year ago, the Dutch government revoked certain export licenses for local chip supplier ASML’s business with China after the US accused Beijing of using them for military purposes. ASML recently announced that the new export controls would not affect its business.

Last fall, ASML CEO Christophe Fouquet predicted that sales in China would only account for 20 percent of total sales in the future (after 50 percent in the previous quarters). According to the company, the sale of older machines, which are not subject to any restrictions, will account for 50 percent of total sales. niw/rtr

South China Sea: US vows to continue support for the Philippines

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio has criticized China’s “dangerous and destabilizing actions in the South China Sea” in a conversation with his Philippine counterpart. Rubio assured him that the US would continue its “ironclad” commitment to the defense of the Philippines. According to a statement from the US Department of Defense, Rubio discussed ways to advance security cooperation, expand economic ties and deepen regional cooperation. The statement accused China’s conduct of undermining regional peace and stability and being in violation of international law.

The Philippines and China are in dispute over the control of areas in the South China Sea. China does not recognize the Philippines’ claim to certain areas within its exclusive economic zone. The Chinese Foreign Ministry described China’s activities in the South China Sea as “reasonable, lawful and beyond reproach.” Ministry spokeswoman Mao Ning said at a press conference that the United States was “not a party” to the dispute over the South China Sea and had “no right to interfere” in maritime affairs between China and the Philippines. “Military cooperation between the U.S. and the Philippines should not undermine China’s sovereignty and maritime rights and interests in the South China Sea, nor should it be used to endorse the illegal claims of the Philippines,” Mao said.

Marco Rubio also met his counterparts from Australia, India and Japan at the Quad Forum on Tuesday. The Quad members and the Philippines share concerns about China’s actions in the South China Sea. Rubio advocates cooperation between the parties when dealing with China. lp/rtr

Election frontrunner Merz: No guarantees for China losses

Companies should not rely on state support when they suffer losses in business with China. CDU/CSU election frontrunner Friedrich Merz said this on the fringes of a foreign policy speech at the Körber Foundation. It was out of the question for companies to deliberately seek out the risk of investing in China and for the state to then have to socialize any losses. Referring to China, he said: “This is not a constitutional state by our standards.” According to Merz, even companies that are only in talks with Chinese companies “must expect major disruption.”

Referring to China and Russia, Merz had previously emphasized that both countries were part of a “revanchist, anti-liberal axis of states” that openly sought systemic competition with liberal democracies and that the principles of the liberal, rules-based international order were being eroded. Merz proposed “a permanent European naval base” in the Indo-Pacific.

Merz announced that he would travel to China for a working visit if elected chancellor on February 23. Given the difficult economic situation, he would meet a Chinese leadership that was “not without worries,” he said. niw/rtr

Does Xi Jinping still believe in communism?

As a Chinese, I am frequently asked the following questions: How many CCP members believe in communism? Do you think Xi Jinping believes in it? The US ambassador to China, Nicholas Burns, got the second question in one of his exit interviews two weeks ago: Is Xi Jinping an ideologue or pragmatist?

Burns didn’t answer the question directly. Instead, he said he saw Xi’s belief in the communist party and that it had made the party more powerful than it had been since Deng Xiaoping. “The party now controls everything,” he said, referring to Xi’s success in stripping the real power of other government organizations, such as the State Council. In addition, Burns said the party is now literally in the hands of one person – Xi himself.

Burns’ observations are correct, even if his remarks were somewhat vague. It should be made clear that Xi’s belief in the communist party is only about the party as a tool to rule, not about communist theories as something that could inspire people.

In short, Xi is not an ideologue at all. He is an absolute pragmatist. His approach, strategies and tactics are not based on doctrines, but on his ultimate goals, securing the one-party regime and his dominance of the whole system. As terrible as this sounds, it could also be the silver lining for his adversaries: he can be flexible and transactional when necessary.

Communism died a long time ago in China

Communism as an ideology basically went bankrupt in China after the Cultural Revolution (1966 – 1976). The only Marxist tenets that the CCP can still resort to are the theories on public ownership of key economic elements and the proletariat dictatorship (interpreted as the party’s dictatorship, though), which help justify its monopoly of power and the economy. But the party has been shunning away from the classic communist vision of the global future, which already sounds ridiculously unconvincing. It has been playing down the Marxist analysis of relations between capitalists and workers because it dangerously resonates with China’s contemporary reality.

Since the era of Deng Xiaoping, Chinese leaders rarely cite classic Marxist quotes. Apparently, they are also aware Marxism is irrelevant to the Chinese reality and to how they want to govern the country.

The new thoughts and theories

In place of the unapplicable Marxist theories, the Chinese Communist Party has been constantly generating new concepts and theories, from the “Deng Xiaoping Theory on Building Socialism with Chinese Characteristics” to Jiang Zemin’s “Three Represents” to the current “Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for the New Era.”

Burns mentioned that party officials must now go to party schools to study Marxism, Leninism and party texts. But he failed to say, or probably he was not aware, that the stress is on the “party texts,” which are mainly about these newly invented theories and, for the moment, Xi Thought.

Studying thoughts and theories mandatory for students

In addition to party officials, all Chinese university students must study Marxism, Leninism, Maoism and the “new thoughts.” They have to pass an exam on it; otherwise, they can’t graduate. Like in the party schools. The current emphasis is on the Xi Theory.

These new thoughts and so-called theory, are not real theories, let alone can they form a systematic ideology. They are more analyses of the current circumstances and detailed expounding of policies. If you want to know what they are, you can find them on the English website of the party journal “Qiushi.”

Making party officials and students study them is to try and cram their heads with the party texts. The officials and students know they are propaganda and generally don’t believe them. So, the party school training and the university classes are rituals that train attendees to be obedient.

Bewitching or unsettling? The scent of durian fruit is not to everyone’s taste. In China, however, they are highly coveted: durian imports broke all records in 2024 with a value of almost seven billion US dollars. That’s 15.6 billion kilograms of durians, according to the South China Morning Post. The popular tropical fruit traditionally comes mainly from Thailand. However, Vietnam attempts to dethrone Thailand as the biggest supplier. One of the factors affecting production there last year was an extreme heatwave. Climate change does not even spare durian fruits.

CHINA.TABLE EDITORIAL OFFICE

Amelie
Richter

Marcel
Grzanna

Fabian
Peltsch

Julia
Fiedler

Angela
Köckritz

Jörn
Petring

Feature

JadeWeserPort: How China found its love for a German deep-water port

China’s new love affair with JadeWeserPort

New Silk Road in Germany?

Zhejiang Seaport uses the port as a hub

How JadeWeserPort turns into a global hub

Events

News

Tariffs: Chinese EV manufacturers take case to EU court

Chips: China and the Netherlands want to stabilize supply chains

South China Sea: US vows to continue support for the Philippines

Election frontrunner Merz: No guarantees for China losses

China Perspective

Does Xi Jinping still believe in communism?

Communism died a long time ago in China

The new thoughts and theories

Studying thoughts and theories mandatory for students

Executive Moves

Dessert

China.Table editorial team

CHINA.TABLE EDITORIAL OFFICE

Feature

JadeWeserPort: How China found its love for a German deep-water port

China’s new love affair with JadeWeserPort

New Silk Road in Germany?

Zhejiang Seaport uses the port as a hub

How JadeWeserPort turns into a global hub

Events

News

Tariffs: Chinese EV manufacturers take case to EU court

Chips: China and the Netherlands want to stabilize supply chains

South China Sea: US vows to continue support for the Philippines

Election frontrunner Merz: No guarantees for China losses

China Perspective

Does Xi Jinping still believe in communism?

Communism died a long time ago in China

The new thoughts and theories

Studying thoughts and theories mandatory for students

Executive Moves

Dessert

China.Table editorial team

CHINA.TABLE EDITORIAL OFFICE

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