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Xi's power reinforced at party congress

Chinese President Xi Jinping outlined his vision for elevating China's role on the world stage at the twice-a-decade Communist Party Congress.

Deutsche Presse AgenturOCTOBER 24, 20179:47AM

China's 19th Communist Party Congress, a twice-a-decade gathering to select the country's new leadership, will end on Tuesday with the enshrinement of Chinese President Xi Jinping's political theory into the party constitution.

The "Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era" is a broad vision outlined by Xi during a three-and-a-half-hour speech opening the congress last week. It includes elevating China's role on the world scene and pulling all aspects of the country's politics, economy and society under the party's control.

If Xi's thought gets added to the party charter with his name, that would place him at the same level as two famous Chinese leaders: Mao Zedong, who founded modern China, and Deng Xiaoping, who opened its markets. Xi's two closest predecessors, Hu Jintao and Jiang Zemin, did not enjoy the same recognition.

The details of Xi's thought are not new, and experts say the content of his political philosophy is not even that important. The fact that he has decided to name the start of a "new era" shows his level of power.

"It is the era for Xi Jinping," said Zhang Ming, a former professor at Renmin University. "The importance is that he opened a new era, his era."

At the end of the congress, the party will also announce the new Central Committee, a leadership group that currently has 205 members with full voting rights and 171 alternate members.

The committee will hold its first plenum on Wednesday, during which it is expected to appoint Xi for his second term as party leader and select the Politburo Standing Committee, China's highest decision-making body.