Lhe Chinese Communist Party (CCP) ended its congress on Saturday, October 22 in Beijing, which should crown President Xi Jinping for a third term and chart China’s political future for the next five years. “Dare to fight for victory,” said Xi Jinping triumphantly after the closing ceremony at the People’s Palace, a huge Soviet-style building that dominates Tiananmen Square.
This congress, the 20ᵉ since the creation of the CCP in 1921, occurred in a delicate context for China, faced with a slowdown in its growth due to repeated confinements and diplomatic tensions with the West. For the past week, some 2,300 delegates chosen by the various Party authorities have been meeting behind closed doors in Beijing, with the mission of overhauling the party’s leadership team, and therefore of the world’s second largest economy, and charting the future directions of the country.
The composition of the new Central Committee, a sort of “parliament” internal to the party, has been adopted, according to the New China agency, which however did not reveal the list of some 200 members. Unusual scene in a highly choreographed ceremony, former President Hu Jintao was escorted out, noted journalists from Agence France-Presse. Visibly against his will, the 79-year-old, who served as China’s president from 2003 to 2013, was pressured by employees to get up from his seat next to Xi Jinping. The scene was not immediately explained or reported by state media.
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A new mandate almost guaranteed
On Sunday, Xi Jinping is likely to be reappointed as the CPC’s general secretary after the first meeting of a revamped Central Committee, which has about 200 members. A simple formality, the procedure should allow Xi Jinping to win an unprecedented third five-year presidential term next March.
“This third term will put an end to three decades of (framed) transition of power” in China, notes Neil Thomas, analyst at Eurasia Group. To stay in power, the strong man of Beijing had thus removed from the Constitution in 2018 the limit of two terms. Xi Jinping, 69, can therefore in theory preside over the People’s Republic for life.
Analysts and media speculate on Xi Jinping’s desire to change the title of his post to “party chairman”, the title held by the founder of the Mao Tse-tung regime (1949-76). A change could also be made to the PCC’s charter. In 2017, she included a reference to “Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era”. This mention had been added the following year to the Constitution of the country.
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A new standing committee of loyalists
This congress should also lead to a broad recomposition of the permanent committee of the Political Bureau. The new composition of this all-powerful body of currently seven members – which holds the reality of power in China – will be unveiled on Sunday. According to unwritten traditions, some of the current members reach the age at which they are supposed to retire.
In accordance with custom, the members of the Standing Committee will be announced in order of importance, number one being the Secretary General. A priori the number two or number three will be the next Prime Minister who will succeed Li Keqiang, next March. Among the names mentioned to replace him: Wang Yang, considered one of the most liberal voices in the Party, or the current Deputy Prime Minister Hu Chunhua. Li Qiang, party leader in Shanghai, is also expected despite his chaotic management of containment in the spring.
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The new permanent committee will be made up of “a majority of personalities loyal to Xi Jinping”, subodores Nis Grünberg, of the Mercator Institute for Chinese Studies (Merics) in Berlin. Many sinologists believe that no potential successor should emerge. Since coming to power at the end of 2012, Xi Jinping has accumulated power at the top of the world’s second power and presided over a strengthening of the regime’s authority.
Party leader, army chief, head of state… the leader pleaded for the continuity of his policies during a triumphant speech at the opening of the congress. The “zero Covid” strategy should thus continue despite its harmful consequences on the economy and the growing exasperation of the population with the confinements. Far from the cautious diplomacy of his predecessors, Xi Jinping should make China’s voice heard even more. Even if it means increasing tensions with the great American rival, in particular around the question of Taiwan.
Xi Jinping is above all “very concerned about the security of the regime”, underline analysts from the SinoInsider firm, which specializes in Chinese politics. And to note that this term was mentioned 91 times in his speech last Sunday, more than any other theme.
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