The Coronavirus as the ‘Final Straw’ of the CCP’s Performative Legitimacy? A New Economic Model in the Post-COVID-19 Era

While COVID-19 is still raging worldwide, the Chinese Premier Li Keqiang confidently stated that China had pulled out of the pandemic faster and in better shape than much of the world because of the ‘hard work and sacrifice of [the] entire nation’. However, this ‘hard work and sacrifice’ in curbing the spread of COVID-19 came at a price. The global COVID-19 crisis has further worsened the Chinese Communist Party (CCP)’s ‘shrinking’ performative legitimacy because it has led to a slowdown of economic growth. Considering the ongoing Sino-US trade disputes and the rising suspicion of China and Chinese firms in western economies, the chapter examines to what extent the CCP can save its performative legitimacy through the new economic strategy dubbed the ‘dual circulation strategy’.