Is GDP No Longer Important? CCP Officials Suffer a Collective Stroke and Simply Lie Flat

A Scene from a CCP Meeting: The Chairperson on Stage Speaks in a Droning Buzz, Perfect for Helping Me Fall Asleep. (Guang Niu/Getty Images)

[People News] Historically, 'economic data (GDP)' has been the core and most significant metric for evaluating CCP officials, prompting officials from various provinces and cities to race like athletes on a track. Those who sell more land, achieve higher GDP growth rates, attract more investment, and develop larger urban infrastructure projects are the ones who get promoted. Almost all local officials have recklessly taken on debt and frantically sold land to construct buildings, operating under the belief that 'the next person will repay the debt, while I can enjoy the achievements now.' 

However, at this stage, the rules of the game have fundamentally changed. There has been a massive withdrawal of foreign capital, the economy is experiencing prolonged stagnation, the real estate market has collapsed, and the situation is dire. While the global economy has largely recovered from the challenges posed by the COVID-19 pandemic, China's economy has not shown signs of improvement and is, in fact, worsening. Consequently, the CCP's current core economic slogans are 'high-quality development' and 'new productive forces.' The Beijing authorities have moved away from their previous blind pursuit of numerical growth, or 'GDP worship,' and have redirected their economic goals towards innovation-driven initiatives, green development, and technological transformation.

While the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) continues to promote a positive narrative about China's economic prospects in its official propaganda to bolster confidence in both domestic and international markets, the reality has shifted in recent years. Simple economic data is no longer the primary metric for evaluating officials in Zhongnanhai. The focus has transitioned from a "development model" to a "security and stability model." This change in policy has left many CCP officials caught in a dilemma: pursuing economic growth could lead to investigations due to debt, while inaction could result in punishment. This has led to issues such as grassroots passivity and data falsification.

A notable example of this political turmoil is Jiang Duntao, a former political rising star and ex-secretary of the Zibo Municipal Committee in Shandong Province, who was once famous for his assertion that "a government that does not incur debt is an inactive government."

Jiang Duntao gained national fame for Zibo in 2023 through a "barbecue craze" by heavily investing in high-end manufacturing and the nightlife economy. At that time, CCP state media lauded his bold approach to business, which led to his promotion to Vice Mayor of Chongqing.

However, these achievements were overshadowed by a financial crisis.

Reports indicate that by 2022, Zibo's debt had skyrocketed to approximately 108 billion yuan, which is double the amount from 2018.

In October 2025, the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection and the National Supervisory Commission announced that Jiang Duntao was under disciplinary review and investigation.

In April of this year, CCP authorities accused him of being "impatient for quick success and blindly reckless," for establishing funds without proper assessments and engaging in vanity projects. He was ultimately expelled from the Party and referred for legal action, with his qualifications as a representative for the 20th National Congress being revoked.

The official statement alleges that Jiang Duntao has been accused of seeking quick success and acting recklessly, resisting oversight, and engaging in superstitious activities. He reportedly accepted invitations and travel arrangements, failed to report personal matters as required, sought benefits for others while accepting valuables, violated regulations by accepting gifts and cash, improperly gave cash and consumption cards, engaged in profit-making activities against regulations, used his position to gain personal benefits for others, and misused public funds to cover expenses that should have been paid out of pocket. Additionally, he is accused of intervening in market economic activities and law enforcement, engaging in power-money transactions, and accepting large sums of money, among other offenses.

Jiang Duntao's previous claim that 'a government that does not incur debt is an inactive government' has now become undeniable evidence against Beijing's sustainable growth policy.

According to a report by The Wall Street Journal, Jiang Duntao's downfall has heightened fear within the bureaucratic system of the Chinese Communist Party. In an effort to protect themselves, CCP officials have adopted two extreme responses. Some officials have taken on a mindset of 'the more you do, the more mistakes you make; the less you do, the fewer mistakes you make,' leading to passive work and intentional delays in decision-making as they wait for clearer instructions from higher authorities. Conversely, to align with the upper echelons and avoid risks, some officials are engaging in superficial projects and fabricating data.

Jiang Duntao was once regarded as the 'standard model' of political elites within the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). He achieved impressive statistics through borrowing, attracting investments, and developing internet celebrity economies, such as the Zibo barbecue trend. However, in the past, Beijing overlooked this 'living off future resources' approach because it needed GDP figures to bolster the regime's image. By 2026, local debt had reached a critical threshold that could trigger a systemic financial crisis. As a result, Beijing abruptly changed its stance, labeling officials like Jiang Duntao, who heavily relied on a debt-driven economy, as 'recklessly blind and short-sighted.' Essentially, the central government could no longer bear the burden of local debts and had to sacrifice former 'political stars' to officially declare the end of the era where political achievements were secured through borrowing.

Xi's 'contradictory paradox' is driving grassroots officials to despair.

The tragedy of Jiang Duntao is rooted in the 'want it all' vested interests and inherent contradictions in the highest-level policies from Zhongnanhai.

Xi Jinping demands that officials pursue 'high-quality development' while prohibiting new debt, all the while requiring them to stabilize economic growth and prevent unemployment rates from soaring. This drastic swing in policy has left grassroots officials unable to predict the boundaries of these directives. What was once seen as 'daring to act and liberating thought' through large-scale borrowing has now been redefined as 'short-sightedness and disloyalty to the Party.' This rapid political reversal has fundamentally undermined the trust foundation of the CCP's bureaucratic system.

The assessment of officials has shifted from 'creating wealth' to 'crisis prevention' (crisis management).

Currently, the slogans frequently echoed by the senior leadership of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) are 'bottom-line thinking' and 'preventing systemic risks.' In practical evaluations, regardless of how impressive an economic data point may appear, if certain events occur locally, such as: first, financial and real estate crises, public defaults on local government bonds, or large-scale protests against unfinished buildings; second, mass public security incidents where citizens, oppressed to their limits, take to the streets with banners, leading to rights protection conflicts that trend on social media; third, safety production issues and major disasters, such as significant chemical plant explosions or major flood disasters being covered up and then exposed, the political careers of officials can be 'vetoed' in an instant.

This is why officials now prioritize avoiding mistakes over achieving success. No matter how well the economy is managed, it pales in comparison to the fear a single mass incident can instill in Zhongnanhai. 'No incidents' has become the highest form of political achievement today.

From 'corruption locomotive' to 'collective vegetative state'

The downfall of Jiang Duntao has sparked a collective trend of 'passive work' and 'data falsification' among CCP officials, which has been sarcastically labeled as a 'collective stroke' of the CCP bureaucratic system by external observers.

At present, the most popular motto among CCP officials is 'the more you do, the more mistakes you make; if you do nothing, you make no mistakes.' Officials focus most of their energy on 'political study' and 'self-examination,' while genuine economic development is postponed as much as possible, with the sole aim of avoiding imprisonment in Qincheng Prison before retirement.

External commentators generally view the rise and fall of Jiang Duntao as a microcosm of the CCP's economic 'paper tiger' predicament. On the surface, it appears as lively and bustling as Zibo barbecue, but once the financial bottom line is exposed, it reveals a fragile bubble of debt that can be easily burst.

Officials Are Hoping for the CCP and Its Leader to Step Down

Recently, the CCP has introduced the economic slogan "seeking progress while maintaining stability, improving quality and increasing efficiency," which suggests that officials should prioritize "stability" and avoid rushing into action. Some analysts argue that such slogans essentially present more ambiguous economic goals, such as achieving so-called "high-quality development," which exacerbates existing issues and leaves officials feeling uncertain about how to implement Xi Jinping's policies.

The unpredictable moods and frequent changes in directives from Zhongnanhai have compelled some local officials to postpone decision-making, waiting for clearer instructions from their superiors before taking action, in order to safeguard their positions. Meanwhile, other officials are fixated on traditional metrics like economic growth, pursuing high-profile investment projects and "vanity projects" to gain favor with their superiors.

The downfall of Jiang Duntao signifies the complete breakdown of the CCP's official "incentive mechanism." Over the past thirty years, the CCP has effectively motivated local officials to aggressively pursue development through "providing positions and wealth"; however, the current emphasis from Zhongnanhai on "absolute political loyalty" has instilled a sense of "fear, suspicion, and endless political accountability" among officials. When a vast government with millions of bureaucrats sees its grassroots officials paralyzed in a state of fear where "not acting means death, and acting means seeking death," the internal collapse of this regime has already begun.

In fact, the discontent among CCP officials towards Xi Jinping and the widespread signs of "lying flat" have been evident for some time. From the CCP's official circles to the general public, many are hoping for the CCP and its leader to step down.

(First published by the People News)
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