A confident China seeks to insulate itself from the world

THE ANNUAL session of China’s legislature, the National People’s Congress, leaves nothing to chance. Speeches are thoroughly rehearsed, those attending are carefully vetted and even the tea service is immaculately choreographed. Yet there are always a few unscripted remarks—or, perhaps, remarks scripted to sound unscripted—that stick out. During the weeklong event, which ended on March 11th, the most memorable words came from Xi Jinping, the country’s leader. “China can now look the world in the eye,” he said in a small meeting on the sidelines. “It’s not like back in the day, when we were still bumpkins.” It was an unvarnished expression of Mr Xi’s belief that China has become a great power and now must act like one.

The main business of the congress was ratification of a new five-year plan that aims to make China even more powerful, while guarding it against global rivals. A legacy of the Soviet economic system, such plans remain important. They set targets that officials must fulfil. The new plan—the 14th, running from 2021 to 2025—confirms just how serious the leadership is about trying to insulate the country from the hostile foreign forces that it believes are arrayed against it.