China’s Xi faces his ‘greatest political challenge’ with coronavirus outbreak - analyst

CNBC reports that Chinese President Xi Jinping is facing a major political crisis from the ongoing coronavirus outbreak, experts said.

The rapid escalation of the viral outbreak since it was first identified in late December likely made Xi realize that it was "not just a public health crisis," said Allison Sherlock, China researcher at the Eurasia Group, a risk consultancy.

"This is the probably the greatest political challenge that he's faced since taking office in 2012," Sherlock told CNBC's "Squawk Box." "At the central level, President Xi and his right-hand man, Premier Li Keqiang, I think they understand that the stakes are very high here."

"The mishandling of the virus didn't just lead to the rapid spread of the outbreak, it also eroded trust in the government. And they're going to try to do everything in their power to ensure that people start believing in their local officials again," she added.

Volker Stanzel, a former German ambassador to China, said the coronavirus outbreak is the biggest, foreseeable test for the Chinese Communist Party leadership this year. A constant factor in the last 70 years of Communist China is that of the party holding onto power "ruthlessly, relentlessly and not giving in," said Stanzel, who is now a senior distinguished fellow at the German Institute for International and Security Affairs, SWP. Xi in particular has managed to consolidate power at the very top of the political ladder.