The markets await Xi in his third term: the grip of the state does not reassure

Xi Jinping’s third term at the helm of China is viewed with a mix of interest and skepticism by international investors. First, because it happens in the midst of the country’s reopening after the long Zero Covid policy. Second, because the step back in regulatory restrictions on some sectors of the economy is not entirely convincing. Third, because last year China grew by 3 percent, one of the worst performances in recent decades, and for this year the Beijing government has set a growth target of 5 percent, considered too modest. “In his third term, Xi will have to focus on economic recovery, but if he continues with tight state control over the private sector, his prospects for success will not be encouraging”, commented Willy Lam, historian and political observer of the Jamestown Foundation, US study center. Indeed, Xi is expected on the financial markets after policies such as “shared prosperity” have had the effect of disorienting large investors and after prolonged blockades such as those of the port of Shanghai have shown the fragility of a global value chain in which China plays a central role. If a financial group such as Schroedersone of the largest globally, founded in 1804 and listed on the London Stock Exchange since 1959, wonders if the reopening of China is good for the global economy, does it mean that something has changed in the relationship between a superpower and the world of capital seeking allocation.