Governance Change and Patterns of Continuity: Assessing China’s “New Normal”

The reforms initiated in the wake of the decisions taken at the Third Plenum in 2013 have been accompanied by a reconfiguration of political rhetoric. This paper argues that the narratives and slogans surrounding China’s proclaimed entrance into the era of “new normal” economic development reflect the plurality of ideas and definitions of governance prevailing within the country’s academic communities. When drafting new policies, China’s political leaders can cherry-pick and compile reform packages that synthesize these groups’ core demands and theory-based developmental roadmaps. The concepts and policy ideas put forward by the fifth generation hence stand for a fragile balance between continuity and change, while seeking to define a new working consensus between the various subgroups of influential elites both inside and outside the party apparatus.