Roots and Prospects of Xi’s Cultural Policy

The speech pronounced by Xi Jinping at a conference on political work in higher education on 7 December 2016, together with his 2014 speech at the Beijing Forum on Literature and Art and this 2015 Central Committee document, symbolise the General Secretary’s effort to leave his mark on the CCP narrative on the past, present and future of Chinese culture. These statements accompany a hardening of the Party’s control over cultural production, the media and education. This trend, contrary to many political campaigns of the past, points at the attempt to establish a ‘new normal’ of reduced ideological leeway rather than a cycle of tightening and relaxation. Nonetheless, these policy positions may bolster intellectual and popular support for the regime.