The Economist delves into Xi Jinping's past to discover China's future and its role in the world through "The Prince" podcast

The Prince tells the story of the world's most powerful person

LONDON, Sept. 28, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Today The Economist launched a new 8-episode narrative podcast called The Prince, exploring the life and rise to power of China's leader, Xi Jinping. The podcast debuts ahead of the Chinese Communist Party congress, the most important event on the country's political calendar, on October 16th in Beijing where Xi is expected to take on an unprecedented third term.

All 8 episodes of The Prince will be available on Wednesday, September 28th, and can be found here: https://econ.st/3Sz8wEI

Hosted by The Economist's China correspondent Sue-Lin Wong, The Prince podcast traces the lessons the young Xi Jinping learned from his traumatic childhood and his rise during China's boom years. The result is a compelling picture of what he learned about power and how to wield it. Ms Wong talks to people who shared Xi's background, people affected by the way he changed China, and top officials who have seen him up close. Over the past ten years, Xi Jinping has gathered enormous personal power. Now, the future of China's 1.4 billion people ? and maybe world peace ? hinge on the mind of this one man.

Each 40-minute episode tackles a different theme surrounding Xi, and seeks to find the answers to questions surrounding the leader including: Why did Xi retain such faith in the Communist Party even as bitter struggles tore apart his childhood? What lessons did he learn from the collapse of the Soviet Union? How did he rise through the ranks to take control of a regime on the brink of collapse? How did he build the world's most sophisticated surveillance and censorship machine? How is he exporting the brutal lessons he has learned about power politics to the rest of the world?

Correspondent Sue-Lin Wong said, "Chinese politics is a black box. Nobody at the top talks. Even ordinary people are afraid to express their opinions. Despite those challenges, I was able to gain access to fascinating people who illuminate Xi Jinping's story. I hope listeners of The Prince learn not just about Xi, but also about China and its place in the world."

Editor-in-chief Zanny Minton Beddoes said, "China's importance is hard to overstate. Yet as the rift with the West widens, understanding what is happening in China has become increasingly challenging. That is why we at The Economist have doubled down on our long-standing commitment to providing world-class coverage of China, by expanding our China team and the ambition of our journalism. The Prince podcast exemplifies that ambition. Chinese journalists making a podcast like this would risk jail. Our team has spent months cutting through the propaganda and the censorship to tell the story of the world's most powerful man in eight gripping episodes."

As part of its China expansion, The Economist has also recently launched a subscriber-only newsletter titled, "Drum Tower", offering weekly insights and observations from inside China and the places where it seeks to extend its influence. In the coming weeks, The Economist will be launching an accompanying weekly China podcast with the same name.

The Prince sits alongside The Economist's flagship daily show, The Intelligence, and other weekly programmes including Checks and Balance, Babbage and The Economist Asks, which combined have approximately 4 million unique podcast listeners and 25 million downloads per month. Economist podcasts are available on all major podcast platforms including Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts or https://www.economist.com/podcasts/.

With a growing global audience and a reputation for insightful analysis and perspective on every aspect of world events, The Economist is one of the most widely recognised and well-read current-affairs publications in the world. In addition to the weekly print and digital editions and website, The Economist publishes Espresso, a daily news app, and Global Business Review, a bilingual English-Chinese product. It produces The Intelligence, a daily current-affairs podcast, several other weekly podcasts and short- and long-form video. The Economist maintains robust social communities on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and other social networks.

SOURCE The Economist