Open Questions | China watcher Wang Xiangwei on how red tape is stifling growth and why Trump may bring calm

Journalism professor and former Post editor says China must walk the talk to reassure private sector, with lessons from DeepSeek, Ne Zha

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Published: 6:00am, 3 Mar 2025

Wang Xiangwei is a veteran China-watcher teaching journalism at Baptist University in Hong Kong, and a former editor-in-chief of the South China Morning Post. As a witness to and recorder of key events involving China for more than three decades, Wang talks to the Post on the country’s challenges and opportunities in a fast-changing world. This interview first appeared in SCMP Plus. For other interviews in the Open Questions series, click here.

What can we expect from this year’s “two sessions”? How significant will it be in shaping the trajectory of China’s development in the coming years?

When unveiling China’s economic development plans each year, its leaders inevitably use the words “momentous” and “extraordinary”, their favourite official catchwords, to describe challenges and opportunities for the past year and the year ahead.

The year 2025 is set to be “momentous and extraordinary” in every sense of those two words.

We can expect liberal use of those adjectives in the high-sounding slogans at the coming two sessions, but whether China’s leaders will follow up with concrete actions remains to be seen.

In other words, what we expect from the two sessions this year and what the government will deliver can be quite divergent if past experience is any guide.

Premier Li Qiang is expected to announce China’s economic growth target at 5 per cent, which should not come as a surprise. The economy achieved 5 per cent growth in 2024 thanks to a moderate rebound in the final months.

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