Chinese workers have long been known for spending long days at the office, but now they face a new set of responsibilities: studying the writings of President Xi Jinping.
Since Beijing launched a new propaganda campaign earlier this year, Xi Jinping Thought has reportedly become a common topic of discussion among employees of state-owned and private companies, including foreign companies.
What is “Xi Jinping Thought”?
Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era, or Xi Jinping Thought for short, is a collection of the Chinese leader’s writings and speeches on the course of China’s development.
The stated goal of the writings is “the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation.”
In April, the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) launched a new campaign to study and implement Xi Jinping Thought.
Since then, the campaign has spread throughout the business world.
Media outlets including Bloomberg and Nikkei Asia have reported anonymous accounts from bankers and other employees describing lengthy meetings and discussions about Xi’s work.
Some of the workplaces that would be affected include global companies with headquarters located overseas.
Under Xi, the world’s second-largest economy has taken a turn toward greater ideological purity based on the party’s Marxist-Leninist roots and its own cult of personality.
Among other measures aimed at strengthening indoctrination, Xi included his writings in the CCP constitution and the national school curriculum.
What does Marxist-Leninist theory have to do with business and banking?
Although communist ideology does not seem immediately relevant to banking or international finance and trade, China’s banks and state-owned enterprises are closely tied to Beijing and subject to close oversight and influence.
Likewise, it is not uncommon for Chinese citizens to be members of the CCP, which is officially separate from the government – although this distinction has faded under Xi.
Last year, the total number of CCP members officially stood at 96.71 million people, or about 7 percent of the country’s population.
Studying Xi’s writings is a common practice in CCP cells, according to Carsten Holz, associate professor of social sciences at the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology.
Top bankers and other high-level employees are likely party members, Holz said, meaning they likely would have studied Xi Jinping Thought even before the April directive.
“Banks are mostly public financial institutions and the biggest ones were literally part of the government. They are aware that they are more like government bureaucrats than traditional bankers,” a Hong Kong-based private sector analyst told Al Jazeera on condition of anonymity.
“They certainly received ideological training before this. So (now) it’s maybe more than before and more focused on one person, but it’s definitely not their first time at the rodeo, so to speak,” the analyst said.
What happens during these study sessions?
Although Xi Jinping Thought study sessions have no real analogue in the Western world, they function somewhat similarly to an activity like Bible studies, said Andy Mok, a senior fellow at the Center for China and globalization in Beijing.
Mok described Xi Jinping Thought as a cross between a “moral framework” and a “state religion”, without superstitious elements, so participants in the study sessions discussed how to apply the writings to their lives and their business practices.
In the case of the banking sector, he added, this practice is reminiscent of many Islamic countries that have been pioneers in the field of Islamic finance.
“Why would Chinese banks study Xi Jinping Thought? I think one of the reasons is that Xi Jinping Thought is, of course, a political ideology, but it can even be deeper and broader than that,” Mok told Al Jazeera. “It’s actually a philosophy of life.”
But Holz said the rise of Xi Jinping Thought could be seen as a symptom of the Chinese leader’s desire to consolidate his power and control to a degree not seen since Mao Zedong.
“I interpret these study sessions as rituals. These rituals are primarily intended to ensure continued loyalty to the leader of the regime,” Holz said.
“They also help protect against independent thought to the extent that brain capacities are preoccupied with the leader’s dogma, and any interest in intellectual debate is stifled by the need to appear consistent with the leader’s dogma.”
What do bankers and managers think of these study sessions?
Most accounts of what study employees think of Xi’s ideology are anecdotal — but there is some evidence that this trend has not always been welcome.
In a recent Nikkei Asia report, an anonymous employee described his dismay after spending 90 minutes during a two-hour business meeting discussing Xi’s writings.
Others cited in the report complain that such activities take up valuable employee time and resources, with some senior managers having been recruited to attend study sessions lasting weeks.
Although study sessions can be time-consuming, Xi’s parallel campaign for “common prosperity” is of more concern to bankers and executives, the Hong Kong-based analyst said.
The principle of Xi Jinping Thought, which calls for greater economic and social equality, can in practice lead to sharp cuts in the salaries of top-performing employees, undermining morale, he said.
Holz expressed concern that Xi Jinping Thought could distract China’s banks and state-owned enterprises from the more important task at hand, getting the economy back on track as its post-pandemic recovery stumbles. against a backdrop of challenges such as deflation and a real estate crisis. and a low birth rate.
“Preoccupation with leader dogma directly and negatively affects the open exchange of ideas and free-spirited innovation that drives economic growth,” he said.