Political Keywords of 2012

In December 2012, the official Xinhua News Agency published a list of what it called ‘Keywords in China’s Sociopolitical Landscape 2012’:

Changeover of Personnel

(huanjie 换届)

This refers to the institution of a system for replacing party and state officials, with special reference to the Eighteenth Party Congress and the turnover in personnel. Its use emphasises the implementation of regularised political procedures in the Communist Party.

The China Dream: the way determines fate

(Zhongguomeng: daolu jueding mingyun 中国梦:道路决定命运)

The China Dream is Xi Jinping’s signature (although not new) formulation. It draws on aspirational statements made during and after the Eighteenth Party Congress by President Xi and others as part of the ‘great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation’.

Systematisation: enacting laws for the People

(zhiduhua: li fa wei min 制度化:立法为民)

Xinhua noted that 2012 marked the thirtieth anniversary of the China’s 1982 Constitution. It further says (in the original English) that: ‘China has continued up to today with the legal concept of scientific development’.

‘Are You Happy?’

(xingfu: zhe shi yige zhen mingti ‘ni xingfu ma?’ 幸福:这是一个真命题 ‘你幸福吗’?)

According to Xinhua, this question flows from an increased focus at the Eighteenth Party Congress on people’s livelihoods, the provision of medical care, the development of a social safety net, social pension insurance, and so on.

Pure and Clean: taking it to a new level

(‘chunjiexing’: tizhi xin gaodu ‘纯洁性’: 提至新高度)

Another signature Xi political formulation; as Xinhua put it, this consists of ‘a renewed emphasis on anti-corruption and purity in the Party’.