Hu claims that the Chinese socialist system is superior to other systems. In a July 2011 article for the People's Forum, Hu wrote that: "The CPC has always adhered to the mass line, rooting itself among the people in order to make democratic decisions. This is manifested in the superiority of the socialist policy-making system with Chinese characteristics. This policy-making system is based on the mass line of the Party, that is from the masses, to the masses and putting into practice what has been learned from practice."[4]
Hu is also a proponent of China's state-owned enterprises, claiming that they are the backbone of national growth in China. In an op-ed for the People's Daily Hu wrote: "The Western corporate culture emphasizes individualism, while the State-owned enterprise culture focuses more on harmony and collectivism. A good business model not only creates material wealth, but also creates spiritual wealth. Chinese corporate culture reflects this spiritual wealth, which in turn is a form of internal and external soft power. China, being a huge economy, needs large, internationally competitive State-owned enterprises. This is the only way that China can ensure that its enterprises enjoy a strong position amid fierce international competition."[5] This puts him at odds with Chinese Premier Li Keqiang who publicly favors reducing State intervention in the economy and has said that the Government should reduce its role in the economy even if doing so feels "like cutting one’s wrist."[6] His advocate of China's SOE has led him to be described as a Chinese New Left.[7]
In 2012 Hu co-wrote a paper calling for the forcible assimilation of ethnic Uighurs in Xinjiang in an effort to create a standardized Chinese "state-race."[8] Although this hard line policy was initially criticized within China it later gained popularity as a policy proposal.[8]
Hu is known in China for his strong support of socialism and the Chinese Communist Party. In July 2013 he wrote an op-ed for the People's Daily stating: "Compared with the civil society in the West, the people's society is superior... it is a great made-in-China innovation in theory and practice." He went on to say that "[t]he people's society is a socialist society under the leadership of the Communist Party."[9] This drew strong criticism within China from social media sites and Chinese academics such as Yu Jianrong.
In August 2018 he was criticised in an open letter written by Tsinghua University alumni calling for the university to fire Hu. The letter accused him of using “self-serving criteria” in his research so as to exaggerate claims of China’s greatness. The letter states that Hu espoused an exaggerated sense of national superiority and overt nationalism that, according to the letter, harms China’s foreign relations whilst also misleading the public.[10]
