When Xi came to power in 2012, the hopes for reform seemed too great. In fact, Xi was criticized by former high-ranking CCP official Cai Xia who called his government resembling the Soviet Union in the Stalin era and Mao's China.
Therefore, Mao's romanticism is considered as an important role in demonstrating the superiority of the political economy. According to Mao it is important to explore how the political and ideological superstructure influences the economic base.
With the application of paternalism plus Mao Zedong's romanticism, Xi was able to maintain the three important dimensions of paternalistic leadership namely authoritarian, benevolent, and moral leadership, while demonstrating that the command economy can provide benevolence to people through the state canteen which is present during economic hardships and lockdown policies.
