China's new economic strategy and ways to overcome a crisis associated with the COVID-19 pandemic

The main challenge for Xi Jinping in late 2020 – early 2021, as well as for the whole world, was the fight against the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic. The situation for the current leader of China was complicated by the fact that the mass spread of the virus began in the Chinese city of Wuhan and led to widespread speculation about its occurrence. Moreover, the Beijing authorities failed to notify the World Health Organization (WHO) in time about the seriousness of the situation and the upcoming consequences. The socio-economic crisis has begun in China. Billions of residents of the country are under threat now. Furthermore, personal authority of each official and Xi Jinping himself was called into question. In addition to information methods for maintaining an international image and combating the spread of the disease directly, the Chinese government has also made attempts to adapt the socio-economic policy of the state to the current realities. The “Vision 2035” economic plan, the “Double Circulation” CCP policy, job creation, the “trade war with the USA”, the production crisis, – all these have become aspects of China’s updated socio-economic policy during the pandemic. This article reveals the significance of these aspects of China’s economic and political strategy at the current stage to overcome the economic crisis associated with COVID-19, the positive and negative consequences of these aspects, and also identifies the most important challenges for the modern Chinese leadership.