China’s refocusing on social goals requires more than new metrics

This year’s government work report delivered by Premier Li Qiang marks a shift from the perennial fixation with growth towards a greater emphasis on effective strategic development, especially social and people-centred outcomes.The “two sessions” have convened against the backdrop of Washington’s military adventure overseas. In contrast to that overextended empire, China will prevail in the competition with the United States by putting its own house in order. Some of the most consequential reforms are not found in the work report’s section headings but are sometimes buried in the text.Both China’s rapid economic growth and the ills plaguing its economy can largely be attributed to how regional and local cadres are evaluated and promoted. The historical ethos has been growth at all costs. Barring corruption, cadres have long been incentivised to focus on delivering results for today rather than fostering long-term sustainable growth.Real estate development has powered immediate economic growth even as industrial investment has been squeezed out. Residential land can be sold for instant revenue and with expectations of swift projects, while industrial land is priced lower in exchange for industrial development and future tax revenues. Beyond the land-based model of municipal finance in China, cadres’ incentives have played a key role in creating China’s property glut.China’s landscape is dotted with vanity projects. Their construction may have provided a short-term gross domestic product boost, even if often leaving the local area debt-laden. Economic growth becomes a mirage arising from wastage instead of authentic development.In a recent collection of President Xi Jinping’s thoughts on the subject, cadres are exhorted towards a correct understanding of governance. But would a major education campaign, launched as work resumed after the Spring Festival holiday, be enough to change the behaviour of cadres? No system, however powerful, can command virtue.