Neil Thomas is a China Analyst at Eurasia Group, the political risk advisory and consulting firm. His writing has appeared in publications including Foreign Policy, Los Angeles Review of Books (China Channel), The Lowy Interpreter, The Washington Post, and The Wire China. He is on Twitter @neilthomas123
Much of the political maneuvering within the Communist Party of China occurs behind closed doors, off-limits even to state media and most Party cadres. But new technologies like prediction markets and crowd forecasting may improve our understanding of politics in the world’s second-largest economy. Political analyst Neil Thomas explains a new experiment.
Judging by the voting history of NPC delegates, Chinese President Xi Jinping is enjoying greater support within the Chinese Communist Party now than ever. Whether that’s more attributable to coercion or genuine support is unknown, but either way, it’s evidence that Xi continues to consolidate his authority.