China chases 'rejuvenation' with control of tycoons, society

An avalanche of changes launched by China’s ruling Communist Party has jolted everyone from tech billionaires to school kids

BEIJING -- An avalanche of changes launched by China’s ruling Communist Party has jolted everyone from tech billionaires to school kids. Behind them: President Xi Jinping’s vision of making a more powerful, prosperous country by reviving revolutionary ideals, with more economic equality and tighter party control over society and entrepreneurs. Since taking power in 2012, Xi has called for the party to return to its “original mission” as China’s economic, social and cultural leader and carry out the “ rejuvenation of the great Chinese nation.” The party has spent the decade since then silencing dissent and tightening political control. Now, after 40 years of growth that transformed China into the world's factory but left a gulf between a wealthy elite and the poor majority, the party is promising to spread prosperity more evenly and is pressing private companies to pay for social welfare and Beijing’s ambition to become a global technology competitor. To support its plans, Xi's government is trying to create what it deems a more wholesome society by reducing children’s access to online games and banning “sissy men” who are insufficiently masculine from TV.