Xi’s communism features in state media as he tightens grip

BEIJING — China’s state-run media yesterday started trumpeting President Xi Jinping’s Four Comprehensives political theory as he consolidates power and advances his own brand of Communist thought.

The People’s Daily devoted a front-page editorial to the theory: “Comprehensively build a moderately prosperous society, comprehensively deepen reform, comprehensively govern the nation according to law, comprehensively, strictly govern the party”.

Mr Xi first mentioned the idea during a trip to Jiangsu province in December and a party journal carried an introduction to it last week. Yesterday was the first time it was promoted on a mass scale.

In its editorial, the People’s Daily said the Four Comprehensives would “lead the way for strategic layout for national renewal”. But such political pronouncements are often catchphrases with little precise definition or impact on policy.

The first step in the strategy was “achieving the great rejuvenation of the Chinese people through the Chinese Dream” — the catchphrase of Mr Xi’s administration.

The President’s governing philosophy follows a long tradition among Communist Party leaders in formulating their ideas into a political theory to guide the country’s development.

Mao Zedong railed against “the four olds” in the 1960s — old customs, culture, habits and ideas — in his quest to remake society, and the trend has continued. Former President Jiang Zemin promoted his concept of the Three Represents with a call for more open membership of the party, while Hu Jintao spoke of the “scientific outlook on development”.

The lengthy commentary, the first of five to be published, was also run by state news agency Xinhua and local party newspapers. AGENCIES