A year has passed since China installed a new president, Xi Jinping; he has moved forcefully in several areas but many challenges remain. How will the country move forward as its double-digit rate of economic growth slows? How does it plan to deal with international calls for political reform and cope with an aging and increasingly polarized population? How do China’s leaders see the nation’s future, including its strategic role in the region and beyond?
In Following the Leader: Ruling China, from Deng Xiaoping to Xi Jinping, David M. Lampton looks back at China’s political elite since “reform and opening” began with Deng Xiaoping in the late 1970’s. In the book, based on hundreds of interviews, Dr. Lampton explores how China’s leaders explain how they intend to move forward, shares their reflections on issues of leadership and policy, and considers the challenges before them.
Dr. David M. Lampton is George and Sadie Hyman Professor and Director of China Studies at the Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS) and chairman of The Asia Foundation. He was president of the National Committee on United States-China Relations in from 1988 to 1997. From May 1998 to May 2006 he also was affiliated with The Nixon Center (now the Center for the National Interest) as the founding director of its Chinese Studies Program. Prior to 1988, Dr. Lampton was founding director of the China Policy Program at the American Enterprise Institute.