Waterstones CEO, China
110 ratings
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Price: £13.99
Brand: Waterstones
Description: China has become the powerhouse of the world economy, its incredible boom overseen by the elite members of the secretive and all-powerful communist party. But since the election of Xi Jinping as General Secretary, life at the top in China has changed. Under the guise of a corruption crackdown, which has seen his rivals imprisoned, Xi Jinping has been quietly building one of the most powerful leaderships modern China has ever seen. In CEO China, the noted China expert Kerry Brown reveals the hidden story of the rise of the man dubbed the 'Chinese Godfather'. Brown investigates his relationship with his revolutionary father, who was expelled by Mao during the Cultural Revolution, his business dealings and allegiances in China's regional power struggles and his role in the internal battle raging between the old men of the Deng era and the new super-rich 'princelings'. Xi Jinping's China is powerful, aggressive and single-minded and this book will become a must-read for the Western world. Waterstones CEO, China - shop the best deal online on thebookbug.co.uk
Category: Books
Merchant: Waterstones
Product ID: 9781784538774
Delivery cost: 2.99
ISBN: 9781784538774
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Author: Adrian J. Smith
Rating: 5
Review: While the title and cover of the book may mislead some toward the notion that CEO, China may be some kind of sensationalist piece, focused upon how Xi Jinping, as many sources proclaim, is the most powerful Chinese leader since Mao, and therefore, would be heavy on the sensationalism, and low on the academic dimension, nothing could be further from the truth. CEO, China is a highly academic and thoroughly analytical work that understands and explains the nature and dimensions of power within modern China. So, rather than being purely a biographical work on Mr Xi Jinping, the book also contains analysis of China's political system, and projections upon China's path of development. Understanding China's political system is a difficult task to say the least. It is opaque and enigmatic, even to those with insider's views. Therefore, any works that claim to have a clear analysis or understanding should be met with skepticism, although Kerry Brown makes no such claims within his work. Rather, he acknowledges the complexity of the task, and makes no grandiose pronouncements. As well as a decent analysis of China's political system, that would bring those unfamiliar partially up to speed, and perhaps shed some new light for those already well versed (including this reader) Brown also provides a decent background on Xi's father, Xi Zhongxun, revealing him to be a rather moderate and noble figure among the 8 Immortals (Xi Zhongxun's inclusion in this group is disputed). However, the biography and insight into Mr Xi Jinping himself is just as good as the rest of the book. Among the questions many will be curious about is, how did Xi Jinping rise to power? It is a question that has baffled many, including this reader, and there are no simple explanations. The clear reason why this invites speculations is that Xi clearly was not the preferred choice of his predecessor, Hu Jintao, who would clearly have preferred his protege from the Youth League Li Keqiang, however, the explanation that Xi Jinping is a "Jiang man" also fails to adequately explain his rise. Brown makes no grand statements, rather he offers the context of Xi's life and career with the explanation that all the tests in local government, national government, coupled with background and service, could mean that he considered "the right stuff" by a sufficient amount of the party's brokers to inherit the party's scepter and orb. Kerry Brown also offers insight into Xi's domestic agenda and his foreign policy views, with enough to make possible projections of where the party and China is headed, and the possible pitfalls along the way. Brown makes no pronouncements of Xi being all powerful, rather he acknowledges the reality that power is a fragile thing, and it can be lost if one makes sufficient enemies, or makes a false step. Similarly, Brown posits a well known, but rarely acknowledged reality, that real danger lies within the party itself in the form of Maoists, and if a Maoist was to rise high enough, and carried sufficient charisma (ala Bo Xilai) Xi (and arguably the country) could be in serious trouble. On the whole, CEO, China is both immensely readable, and insightful. It is a truly penetrating analysis of the nature of power in modern China, and gives a thoroughly balanced and insightful perspective on China's current, Paramount Leader.
Author: D Bennett
Rating: 3
Review: Some interesting detail, but overall a bit disappointing for its lack of depth and detail, particularly on the life and rise of Xi Jinping himself. Also fairly repetitive in its descriptions of the workings of the hierarchy and decision making within the party. But maybe that’s the main revelation: how mundane the ideology and the processes behind the man. Also, reading this now (2022), some of the content is of course outdated.
