Official Visions of Democracy in Xi Jinping’s China

The concept of “democracy” has been used in Chinese political discourse since the early twentieth century. It was first appropriated as part of the Chinese Communist Party’s (CCP) vocabulary by Mao Zedong, and subsequent leadership generations have added new interpretations of the notion. Since 2012, when Xi Jinping took office as China’s new paramount leader, the concept of “democracy” has been further developed in official party discourse. Coined as a “socialist core value,” its popularization helps to bolster regime legitimacy at home. At the same time, the idea of a “Chinese-style democracy” might gain traction in other non-democratic regimes in Eurasia in the course of growing geopolitical rivalries.