Xi's book gets thoughtful review from French writer

When Arnaud Bertrand, a French entrepreneur, writer and longtime China observer, finished reading the fifth volume of Xi Jinping: The Governance of China, he discovered something that impressed him even more than the book itself.

Having lived in China for years, Bertrand has become one of the country's most influential independent foreign commentators, attracting more than 400,000 followers on X, where he regularly publishes long-form analyses of Chinese politics, history, culture and international affairs.

In a recent article, he drew widespread attention by offering one of the few detailed independent English-language reviews of President Xi Jinping's work.

"I simply wanted to know what was in the book," he said, as he first looked online for a thoughtful review in English.

To him, the absence of serious engagement with the political writings of the leader of the world's second-largest economy reflected a wider issue in the way the West approaches China.

That decision ultimately led him to publish what has since become one of the most widely shared independent English-language reviews of the book.

For Bertrand, the bigger question is not why he read the book, but why so few others in the West have done the same.

Without a basic understanding of China's political system and historical background, many readers would find it difficult to follow, Bertrand said, also referring to the existence of a great deal of negative propaganda about China in the West, which led too many to not believe such a book from the nation.

He argued that this attitude is fundamentally illogical.

"If you genuinely believe China is one of the most important countries in the world, then reading how its own leaders explain the country's governance should be considered essential," Bertrand told China Daily in a video interview.

"Whether you see China as a friend or as an adversary, you need to understand it," he added.

Contrary to what many Western readers might expect, Bertrand said the book, which has been published in English and other languages across the world, is not written as a public-relations exercise aimed at foreign audiences, but is a collection of Xi's spoken and written works, many published for the first time.

"President Xi is giving instructions to the people responsible for governing China. Because of that, the language is direct. He wants them to understand exactly what he means."

For Bertrand, that's what makes the book far more valuable than many outsiders realize. Governance in a nation as big as China is rather complicated, and officials at all levels need guidance to stay on track.

"You're getting the actual operating language of the system, not a translation of it for foreign ears," he wrote.

He was struck by the emphasis on managing several key relationships in advancing Chinese modernization. "The book discusses relationships such as self-reliance and opening-up, or strategy and tactics," Bertrand said. "These are balances that have to be constantly managed."

"This is a conception of governance that has no real equivalent in Western political thought, where unresolved tensions are seen as problems to fix, not forces to harmonize," he wrote.

Another section he found particularly revealing concerns the Communist Party of China's emphasis on self-reform.

"The entire last chapter is devoted to examining the Party's own shortcomings," he said, with emphasis on what President Xi talks very openly about: corruption, complacency, incompetence, and other risks facing the Party.

"No political system is perfect," he said. "Perhaps the best systems are those that recognize they are imperfect and continuously try to improve themselves. I think that is something Western political systems could also learn from."

Firsthand experience

For those who wish to read the book, Bertrand believes that firsthand experience is also essential, giving "an honest recommendation to anyone who wants to understand China: come to China".

"You cannot truly understand a country simply by reading about it. You have to travel there, talk to Chinese people, experience the country yourself, and then return to the books. You'll understand them in a completely different way," he said.

Looking ahead, Bertrand hopes that relations between China and the West will increasingly be built on mutual understanding rather than assumptions.

"We used to have an intellectual tradition in the West," he said. "That even for those criticizing someone's ideas, they first had to understand them well enough to explain them in a way that the other person would recognize as accurate."

"I think we should apply exactly the same principle to China."