I never criticized Xi, and I am not criticizing him here. You are right that growth rates have natural limits.
However, the export growth rates during Hu's term are the highest and most consistent of this entire 33 year period. (In fact, Hu's export boom might have been the biggest in all of Chinese history).
Surely he deserves some credit?
The credit I give HU is that he didn't do anything stupid or f*ck things up. If you are the leader of anything, I expect leadership. He didn't lead anything. That's my problem with him. It's like industrial magnates in the semiconductor industry who go for maximum profits without regard for the danger they are exposed to because they rely on others to protect them when the sh*t hits the fan with American semiconductor sanctions. Real leaders will push forward development 1 way or another because they are in the position to do something about it. So, when you are the leader of China and you spend 10 years doing literally almost nothing that stands out in any way, it means you are a paper pusher, a very replaceable bureaucrat.
Take Xi Jinping. Look at what he did related to China's society and culture. He tackled fundamental problems that were decades old in less than 10 years. For example, the corruption problem in China was pervasive throughout government and society at large. Leadership filters down to the citizens at large. What do we see today? We see pervasive government corruption at something under 1-2% of what it used to be only 10 years ago. Glaring corruption like officials driving expensive cars or holding banquets every other week are now a rarity unless it's some kind of convention. You see this reflected down the ranks and down into the citizenry.
Take poverty alleviation. If you only look at the numbers, you will think the most accomplishment was the first 80% brought out of absolute poverty. No, those are the easy targets because those 80% were the poor living along the coastal provinces and the flat northern plains. The last 15-20% of absolute poor live in mountainous, arid, desolate, isolated,...basically Sh**ty environments. Nowhere in the world has the poverty issue been solved for people living in such conditions. Xi Jinping, as the leader said they are going to do it, come hell or high water. They used "First Principles" to look for the solutions and they did it. That is "LEADERSHIP".
Talk about Strategic leadership, Xi decided to build those South China Sea islands in preparation for what was expected to be a sustained containment campaign by the Anglo-Americans. How do I know this? During the Obama Administration, BEFORE the
Pivot to Asia there was public talks about starting an Asian NATO and talk of permanently stationing the bulk of the American naval fleet to the Pacific theatre in the vicinity between Japan, S.Korea, Guam, Australia and India. There were numerous reports of American strategy to strangle China and starve it via naval blockade in the South China Sea where they could hide their nuclear submarines in the deep seas there to launch LACM (Land Attack Cruise Missiles) at will at China's nearby industrialized coastal provinces. THAT is the reason for the artificial islands. It was in response to an imminent threat of a new Asian NATO before that plan could be realized. Now, no Southeast Asian country will dare to join an Asian NATO and it allows China to at least trade in the vicinity of Asia without being blockaded at least there. It is far harder for submarines to do this to China in the East China Sea because the seas are much shallower there and far easier to detect submarines. Large surface ships are also sitting ducks if they come anywhere near range of China's ASBM (Anti-Ship Ballistic Missiles). This is leadership.
The related Belt and Road is also partly in response to the Anglo-American containment strategy. Since some of China's sea routes can be successfully blockaded, the Belt & Road provide a critical land route as the alternative. Belt and Road was the creation of Xi and his people. There are other advantages but you see the point. This is leadership.
Finally, look at the things that affect people's every day lives in China. They are about health, education, their home, pollution, safety. What do we see? We see innocuous programs like the Toilet Revolution, mass replacement of coal fired boilers, massive expansion of greenhouse vegetable growing, school and health systems dramatically improved, and pollution both air, water and soil dropping dramatically since 2011. Who is the one who keeps barking about a beautiful and green China? Xi Jinping, that's who. Who is pushing through budgets spending hundreds of billions on pollution controls every single year? Xi Jinping. This is leadership.
It's not only about economic growth rates. it's also about the people. That man is responsible and he obviously cares about those he leads. This is a long rant but I just need wanted to say it. This guy is the best thing to happen to China since Deng Xiaoping.
