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You have it pretty much exactly right so far as I understand it. There's many reasons Xi has diligently worked to be in a position of absolute power, and while nobody can dispute the apalling lack of personal freedom or liberty within the CCP, they just simply aren't things the greater Chinese population places a great value on comparative to westerners.
It's a country that has been thoroughly conditioned for authoritarian acquiescence with a younger generation and middle class apathetic to politics on the whole but it wouldn't appear as though he plans on quelling dissent merely through forceful, inhumane means. He's a guy that has been at the very bottom, his own family purged during the Cultural Revolution. This is a very interesting article.
(Excerpt)
NPR: Some Economists See A Plus Side In Eliminating Term Limits For China's Xi Jinping
China has spent the better part of the last two decades on a building spree. It's constructed the world's largest high-speed rail network, dozens of subway systems, highways and entire cities. This investment-led model has driven a historic economic expansion, but it's also resulted in a dangerously lopsided economy. The growth has disproportionately benefited the elite in and around the government instead of everyday Chinese workers, many of whom still don't make enough to enter the consumer class.
President Xi's administration spent much of its first term attempting to rebalance the economy toward a more sustainable, consumer-led growth model. But according to China's top economic experts, doing so will likely cause economic pain to the country's powerful state sector, and it will take several years. That's why economists like Pettis reason that eliminating term limits for Xi might be better for China's - and the world's - economy in the long run.
Despite former Premier Wen's warnings, imbalances in the national economy grew. China's leadership in the early 2000s under then-President Hu Jintao tried to introduce reforms to restore balance, but they gave up when the rich and powerful pushed back, protecting their massive share of China's economic pie. "In the end they decided simply to keep the ball rolling, since they only had two or three or four more years in office," recalls Pettis.
Politically, it was the choice of least resistance. Economically, analysts say it led to wasteful spending, dangerous levels of government debt and rampant corruption; all issues that have confronted President Xi since he took office in 2013. There are many reasons behind the Chinese government's controversial scrapping of term limits. They include bringing the president role more in line with two other top posts: the military and Communist Party heads.
But in terms of economics, the reforms China needs, Pettis says, will require strong leadership over an extended period. Xi has used his first term to consolidate power — now he's been given more time to wield it.
"My big fear if he didn't have a third term is that he would be really reluctant to implement the reforms during this term because there's almost no way you can do so without slowing the economy for many, many years," Pettis says of the economic reforms needed to restore balance to China's economy. "So there's no way he could've really reformed sufficiently without leaving 2023 in a pretty bad state."
