''The Governance of China'' is a four-volume collection of speeches and writings by

Xi Jinping Xi Jinping ( ; ; ; born 15 June 1953) is a Chinese politician who has served as the general secretary of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) and chairman of the Central Military Commission (CMC), and thus as the paramount leader of China, s ...

, the

General Secretary of the Chinese Communist Party The general secretary of the Chinese Communist Party () is the head of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), the sole ruling party of the People's Republic of China (PRC). Since 1989, the CCP general secretary has been the paramount leader o ...

and current

paramount leader Paramount leader () is an informal term for the most important political figure in the People's Republic of China (PRC). The paramount leader typically controls the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) and the People's Liberation Army (PLA), often hol ...

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...

. Presenting the official party line for China's development in the 21st century, the collection is an authoritative source on

Xi Jinping Thought Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era, commonly abbreviated outside China as Xi Jinping Thought, is a set of policies and ideas derived from the writings and speeches of Chinese Communist Party general s ...

and a literary successor to

Chairman The chairperson, also chairman, chairwoman or chair, is the presiding officer of an organized group such as a board, committee, or deliberative assembly. The person holding the office, who is typically elected or appointed by members of the grou ...

Mao Zedong Mao Zedong pronounced ; also romanised traditionally as Mao Tse-tung. (26 December 1893 – 9 September 1976), also known as Chairman Mao, was a Chinese communist revolutionary who was the founder of the People's Republic of China (PRC) ...

's ''

Quotations from Chairman Mao Tse-tung ''Quotations from Chairman Mao Tse-tung'' () is a book of statements from speeches and writings by Mao Zedong (formerly romanized as Mao Tse-tung), the former Chairman of the Chinese Communist Party, published from 1964 to about 1976 and wid ...

''. The volumes were published in 2014, 2017, 2020 and 2022 respectively.

Overview

''Governance of China'' consists of 270 pieces, organized thematically into 54 chapters. All three volumes were edited by three entities: the

State Council Information Office The State Council Information Office (SCIO; ) is the chief information office of the State Council of the People's Republic of China. In 2014, SCIO was absorbed into the Central Propaganda Department of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). History ...

, the

Central Policy Research Office The Central Policy Research Office () is an institution of the Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Party responsible for providing policy recommendations and insights to matters of governance, spanning political, social, and economic realm ...

of the

Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Party The Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Party, officially the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China, is a political body that comprises the top leaders of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). It is currently composed of 205 fu ...

, and the

China International Publishing Group The China International Publishing Group (CIPG), also known as the China Foreign Languages Publishing Administration, is a foreign-language publishing organization in China owned and controlled by the Central Propaganda Department of the Chine ...

.''Governance I'', publisher's note.''Governance II'', publisher's note. The volumes are also interspersed with photography of Xi, depicting him "at work and in daily life". The text articulates Xi Jinping Thought, Xi's

political philosophy Political philosophy or political theory is the philosophical study of government, addressing questions about the nature, scope, and legitimacy of public agents and institutions and the relationships between them. Its topics include politics, l ...

as it relates to large-scale political issues concerning China including

economics Economics () is the social science that studies the Production (economics), production, distribution (economics), distribution, and Consumption (economics), consumption of goods and services. Economics focuses on the behaviour and intera ...

domestic politics Domestic policy is a type of public policy overseeing administrative decisions that are directly related to all issues and activity within a state's borders. It differs from foreign policy, which refers to the ways a government advances its intere ...

international relations International relations (IR), sometimes referred to as international studies and international affairs, is the scientific study of interactions between sovereign states. In a broader sense, it concerns all activities between states—such as ...

, infrastructure,

technology Technology is the application of knowledge to reach practical goals in a specifiable and reproducible way. The word ''technology'' may also mean the product of such an endeavor. The use of technology is widely prevalent in medicine, science, ...

, environmentalism, peaceful co-existence, and the

military A military, also known collectively as armed forces, is a heavily armed, highly organized force primarily intended for warfare. It is typically authorized and maintained by a sovereign state, with its members identifiable by their distinct ...

. Volume I also contains a political biography of Xi in the appendix.

Release

201901 Xi Jinping's books at Shanghai Library

The first two volumes of ''Governance of China'' were formally presented to western audiences at the

London Book Fair The London Book Fair (LBF) is a large book-publishing trade fair held annually, usually in April, in London, England. LBF is a global marketplace for rights negotiation and the sale and distribution of content across print, audio, TV, film and di ...

upon their release, and both volumes have been translated into other major languages, including English, Arabic, French, German, Japanese, Spanish, Portuguese, Russian, Uyghur, Tibetan, Kazakh, Korean, Kyrgyz, Mongolian, Polish, Standard Zhuang, and so forth. The third volume was announced by

Chinese state media The mass media in China consists primarily of television, newspapers, radio, and magazines. Since the start of the 21st century, the Internet has also emerged as an important form of communication by media, and is under the direct supervisi ...

on 30 June 2020.

Reception

Reviews of ''Governance of China'' have been mixed. It was positively received by Chinese media and officials and received measured praise from non-Chinese leaders.

Prayuth Chan-ocha Prayut Chan-o-cha (sometimes spelled Prayuth Chan-ocha; th, ประยุทธ์ จันทร์โอชา, ; born 21 March 1954) is a Thai politician and retired army officer who has served as the Prime Minister of Thailand since he ...

, the leader of Thailand's military junta, for instance, asked his cabinet to study the first volume shortly after it was released. In Western media, it largely received negative reviews, with some regarding it as

propaganda Propaganda is communication that is primarily used to influence or persuade an audience to further an agenda, which may not be objective and may be selectively presenting facts to encourage a particular synthesis or perception, or using loaded ...

but offering that it is a useful guide to better understanding China under Xi Jinping's leadership. Bethany Allen-Ebrahimian, writing in ''

Foreign Policy A State (polity), state's foreign policy or external policy (as opposed to internal or domestic policy) is its objectives and activities in relation to its interactions with other states, unions, and other political entities, whether bilaterall ...

'', for instance, called it a "mix of stilted Communist Party argot, pleasant-sounding generalizations, and 'Father Knows Best'-style advice to the world". It received limited praise in other areas of Western society, however, with Facebook CEO

Mark Zuckerberg Mark Elliot Zuckerberg (; born ) is an American business magnate, internet entrepreneur, and philanthropist. He is known for co-founding the social media website Facebook and its parent company Meta Platforms (formerly Facebook, Inc.), o ...

reportedly having read the book and ordering copies for his company's employees (though Zuckerberg's interest in the book has been interpreted as a vested interest—Facebook is blocked in China, and if the block were lifted the potential result would be a dramatic increase in Facebook's userbase). Although

Chinese media The mass media in China consists primarily of television, newspapers, radio, and magazines. Since the start of the 21st century, the Internet has also emerged as an important form of communication by media, and is under the direct supervisi ...

have reported global circulation numbers for the book's volumes on the order of several million copies, Western media have reported very low sales numbers for the work in Western countries. A 2021 report published by ''

Reuters Reuters ( ) is a news agency owned by Thomson Reuters Corporation. It employs around 2,500 journalists and 600 photojournalists in about 200 locations worldwide. Reuters is one of the largest news agencies in the world. The agency was estab ...

'', claimed that Amazon sided with the

Publicity Department of the Chinese Communist Party The Publicity Department of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China, also known as the Propaganda Department or Central Propaganda Department, is an internal division of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) in charge of spreading C ...

and stopped allowing any customer reviews for the book on the Chinese version of the website, citing "two people familiar with the incident".

Notes

References

External links

*
The Governance of China
online in Chinese.
The Governance of China
online in English. {{DEFAULTSORT:Governance of China, The 2014 non-fiction books 2017 non-fiction books Chinese culture Chinese literature Communist books Ideology of the Chinese Communist Party People's Republic of China culture Propaganda books and pamphlets Propaganda in China Works by Xi Jinping