Xi Jinping

2022 - 10 - 22

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Image courtesy of "NPR"

China's Premier Li Keqiang dropped in leadership shuffle (NPR)

Premier Li Keqiang, China's No. 2 official, is among four of seven members of the nation's all-powerful Politburo Standing Committee who will not be ...

In his remarks, he said the party, which marked its 100th anniversary last year, is still in its prime. Those percentages were roughly the same as in the last Central Committee. Hu, 79, spoke briefly with Xi, whom he had been sitting next to in the front row, before walking off with an assistant holding him by the arm. Only Central Committee members can serve on the Standing Committee. There was no official comment. BEIJING — Chinese Premier Li Keqiang, the nation's No.

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Image courtesy of "Foreign Policy"

Did Xi Jinping Just Purge Hu Jintao at China's Party Congress? (Foreign Policy)

China's 20th Party Congress concluded on Saturday with a rare and shocking piece of live drama. Hu Jintao, the leader of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) ...

Xu Caihou, a high-ranking military official, was [detained](https://www.hrw.org/report/2016/12/06/special-measures/detention-and-torture-chinese-communist-partys-shuanggui-system?gclid=Cj0KCQjwqc6aBhC4ARIsAN06NmMYqNpnBf4ZBCD2foKElOiTP4KtQid9B2VOy4g4La_qX9mI-QoFfe0aAn_CEALw_wcB) in 2014 in the middle of cancer treatment, and died the next year. [extremely harsh](https://foreignpolicy.com/2022/10/19/china-party-congress-xi-jinping-speech/) language in his opening work report to describe the situation within the party when he took over, speaking of a “slide toward weak, hollow, and watered-down party leadership in practice,” though without mentioning Hu or others by name. (Hu’s contribution to Marxist theory, the Scientific Outlook on Development, also got a token mention in Xi’s speech.) Humiliating Hu in this fashion would also send a clear signal to the “ [retired elders](https://foreignpolicy.com/2022/10/13/china-xi-jinping-succession-ccp-party-congress-elders/),” the former high-level leaders who long remained a force within the party, that Xi’s power was unbound. But the third and most disturbing possibility is that it was planned, and we just witnessed Xi deliberately and publicly humiliate his predecessor—possibly as a precursor to wielding the tools of party discipline, followed by judicial punishment, against him. The initial list of Central Committee names—the roughly 200 people who will nominally decide the Standing Committee, the core of the leadership, in meetings Saturday and announce it Sunday—is missing Li Keqiang, the current premier and a protégé of Hu’s, and other relative economic reformers such as Wang Yang and Liu He. Hu was associated with a power network of former leaders, like himself, of the Communist Youth League; that faction appears to have been [effectively destroyed](https://www.nytimes.com/2016/08/04/world/asia/china-communist-youth-league.html). That could have been a remark by Hu to his former colleagues backstage or perhaps even signs of dementia that caused a sudden panic that something might go wrong. Since stepping down as CCP leader in 2012, when Hu was lauded by party media for—in a stark contrast to Xi—relinquishing power, he has been largely off the stage. Hu was seated in a prominent position next to current CCP leader Xi Jinping, and the incident was caught on camera; he appeared to ask Xi and Premier Li Keqiang a question, to which they both nodded, while Xi prevented him from taking some papers by placing his hand on them. [visibly frail](https://twitter.com/aaronMCN/status/1583775726138195970) during the Party Congress. The second possibility is that information suddenly came up that made Xi—who would have had to personally approve any such move—afraid that Hu might abstain or even vote against him in the rounds of otherwise unanimous voting that finished off the Party Congress. That wasn’t out of any great commitment to liberalism on Hu’s part but because most party members were more occupied with making money than with enforcing the party line.

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Image courtesy of "South China Morning Post"

Shake-up at the top of China's Communist Party as Xi Jinping starts ... (South China Morning Post)

Veterans Li Keqiang and Wang Yang are not among the names of the Central Committee announced at the close of the party congress.

This will ensure that the entire party strives in unity to build a modern socialist country in all respects and advance national rejuvenation on all fronts,” the summary read. He has used various campaigns, particularly the war against corruption, to restore discipline and a sense of purpose among the party members. However, it was also blamed for causing rampant factionalism, divisions within the party, inefficiency and a breakdown of discipline. There is also a sweeping change in the economic and financial sectors. Liu has been instrumental in shaping China’s economic structural reform, driving the deleveraging campaign and technology innovation for the past decade. Wang, 69, is well over the statutory retirement age of 65 for ministerial-level officials. This is a departure from the collective leadership system that reached its high watermark during Hu Jintao’s era. According to his vision, by 2049, the centenary of the People’s Republic, China should become a leading power in all aspects. Both Wang and Zhang have passed the customary retirement age. Zhang boasts battlefield experience and is a trusted ally of Xi. Just before Xi made the public speech, his 79-year-old predecessor, The reshuffle is bigger than expected.

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Chinese President Xi Jinping secures unprecedented 3rd term at ... (Odisha Diary)

Immediately after the 20th party congress concluded on Saturday, state news agency Xinhua announced the 205 members of the new Central Committee, which oversees ...

20th party congress also adopted amendments to the party constitution aimed at cementing the core status of Xi, closer to that of modern China’s founding father, Mao Zedong. On Sunday, the new central committee – the 20th Central Committee – will hold its first plenary session and will vote on candidates for the current seven-member PBSC, which represents the apex of China’s political power and is led by the 69-year-old Xi Jinping as General Secretary. While the premier is the head of the State Council, or China’s cabinet, most ministries have a direct reporting line to the party which, experts said, makes Premier’s job even difficult. Experts said, while the abrupt exit could be related to Hu’s health, it may also reflect a power struggle as the former president’s unhappiness about his closest proteges’ removal from the leadership, thus collapse of his power base. Experts said, by retiring the four veterans, Xi opens more seats at the top for the promotion of his loyalist younger leaders, as he consolidates power by crushing the factionalism and infighting that marked the tenures of former leaders Hu Jintao and Jiang Zemin. The 20th Central Committee, with 205 full members, will report to the 25-member Politburo, which will be headed by the Politburo Standing Committee (PBSC).

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China reaffirms President Xi Jinping's dominance, removes Premier ... (PBS NewsHour)

China's ruling Communist Party reaffirmed President Xi Jinping's continued dominance in running the nation Saturday, one day ahead of giving him a widely ...

In his remarks, he said the party, which marked its 100th anniversary last year, is still in its prime. Those percentages were roughly the same as in the last Central Committee. The removal of Li, while not unexpected, signaled Xi’s continuing tight hold on power in the world’s second-largest economy. Li had already been largely sidelined, though, as Xi has taken control of most aspects of government. Jiang Zemin, 96, who was president before Hu, did not appear at this congress. Li, the nation’s No.

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Image courtesy of "Fortune"

Xi Jinping's predecessor was unceremoniously escorted out of ... (Fortune)

Former Chinese leader Hu Jintao was escorted off stage during the closing session of a major Communist Party congress, where the 79-year-old had been ...

Perhaps most notably, former Hu Jintao protégé, Li Keqiang, was absent from the body, even though he’s still a year away from retirement age. He stopped briefly to exchange some words with Xi, who nodded in response, and tapped outgoing Premier Li Keqiang on the back. The incident saw Xi turning toward Hu as he prepared to leave.

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Image courtesy of "The Wall Street Journal"

Xi Jinping Set to Be Elected to Third Term as China's President: Live ... (The Wall Street Journal)

Top members of China's Communist Party are gathering in Beijing Sunday to anoint the next leadership team for the world's most populous country.

García-Herrero.\n\nShe said the government was trying to convey a message: "You're watched, so you'd better be careful." Xi Jinping dropped a new phrase into the lexicon of the Chinese Communist Party this week, with a pledge to "regulate the wealth accumulation mechanism." Alicia García-Herrero, chief economist for Asia Pacific at Natixis, a French investment bank, said the use of the word "regulate" implies the government has a different approach in mind.\n\nMr.

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Image courtesy of "Nikkei Asia"

Xi Jinping to unveil new inner circle for his third term in power (Nikkei Asia)

BEIJING -- President Xi Jinping on Sunday will unveil his new inner circle, a lineup of loyalists expected to carry out his orders after he paved.

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Image courtesy of "Hindustan Times"

China reaffirms Xi Jinping's power, removes No. 2 (Hindustan Times)

Xi is all set to begin a custom-breaking third term as China's leader on Sunday as he further strengthened his grip over the Communist Party of China (CPC) ...

“It is hard for Xi to go further in terms of centralisation and power concentration. “Two Upholds” mean: Safeguarding the “core” status of Xi within the CPC and to safeguard the centralised authority of the CPC. In his speech delivered at the closing of the congress on Saturday, Xi said: “We must improve our capacity for political judgement, thinking, and implementation. “Whoever is appointed (on Sunday), they will be fully in agreement with the politics associated with Xi. Li Keqiang will continue as Premier until March 2023 before making way for the new Premier at the end of China’s annual NPC session. The week-long 20th CPC national congress concluded on Saturday with 2,296 delegates electing a new 205-member Central Committee (CC).

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Image courtesy of "The Atlantic"

Hu Jintao's Exit Was Mysterious. Xi Jinping's Power Play Is Not. (The Atlantic)

Today, we were given an unexpected detail. In the middle of today's session of the 20th Communist Party Congress, former General Secretary Hu Jintao was ...

Unfortunately, the speculation and rumormongering about Hu are a product of the secrecy of the party itself. The more important piece of information that has emerged from the congress has to do with personnel—the shuffling of party leaders into the elite decision-making bodies: the party’s Central Committee, Politburo, and Politburo Standing Committee. As of this writing, all signs suggest the party leadership will be completely dominated by Xi, in a way it hasn’t been in the first 10 years of his rule. Hu’s 10-year tenure has previously been described in the West as a “lost decade” for China, a period in which both and economic and political reform largely stalled. This would be dramatic indeed, but making such a gesture at the congress itself would be cruel and unnecessary. Still, as James Palmer of Foreign Policy noted [earlier today](https://foreignpolicy.com/2022/10/22/china-xi-jinping-hu-jintao-ccp-congress/), Hu Jintao poses little threat to Xi at this point, given his age and declining stature in the system. During the remainder of the congress, Xi will install loyalists at the top levels of the party and claim a third term as general secretary. I have seen juicier interpretations still—such as that Hu was actively being purged at that very moment and would soon be charged with corruption and formally investigated by the party’s disciplinary apparatus. Having Hu literally pulled away could be a way for Xi to signal his dominance and send a message to other elites and the public. Hu, and his allies and protégés, represent a more technocratic, moderate arm of the party—one decidedly less repressive, and more open to the outside world. Hu’s feeble exit from stage is a sad symbol of the current trajectory of Chinese politics. In the middle of today’s session of the 20th Communist Party Congress, former General Secretary Hu Jintao was abruptly escorted off stage.

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Image courtesy of "CBS News"

Former Chinese President Hu Jintao unexpectedly led out of ... (CBS News)

Hu's exit came just before the 2,300 delegates at the congress voted unanimously to endorse Xi's "core" leadership position. "Power politics on full display," ...

Complete humiliation for the last generation of pre-Xi leadership," [Communist Party congress](https://www.cbsnews.com/news/china-communist-party-congress-2022-xi-jinping-military-growth/) in a dramatic moment that disrupted the highly choreographed event. despite the fact that he has been taking time to recuperate recently. Now, he is much better," Xinhua "When he was not feeling well during the session, his staff, for his health, accompanied him to a room next to the meeting venue for a rest. [said](https://twitter.com/XHNews/status/1583829797297598465) on Twitter: "Xinhuanet reporter Liu Jiawen has learned that Hu Jintao insisted on attending the closing session...

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Image courtesy of "The Straits Times"

China's new leadership team with Xi Jinping at the helm to be ... (The Straits Times)

The departure of four leaders from the Politburo Standing Committee allows Mr Xi to install his allies in the elite body. Read more at straitstimes.com.

Mr Xi could draw from at least seven loyalists who are current Politburo members and have also just made it into the Central Committee. This will land him a seat on the Standing Committee. Members elect, among them, the higher level 25-member Politburo and its elite standing committee. Like in 2017, Mr Xi will lead the men onto the stage and stand in the middle, followed by his No. The team will stay at seven men and not be expanded to nine. The “seven up, eight down” rule establishes the age limit at 67 for old and new members of the Standing Committee and the wider Politburo at the start of a new term.

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Image courtesy of "The Guardian"

China's president Xi Jinping expected to secure historic third term in ... (The Guardian)

Xi Jinping is expected to be granted a precedent-breaking third term at the end of a key political meeting in Beijing.

Li is the top official responsible for the development of the Greater Bay Area, Xi’s master plan for an integrated economic powerhouse of nine Chinese cities with Hong Kong and Macau. Xi and the six members of the new Politburo Standing Committee have just walked on stage. We should always remember their dedication and sacrifice.”

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Image courtesy of "CNN"

Xi tightens grip on power as China unveils new leaders (CNN)

Xi Jinping is set to take on a third term as Chinese Communist Party chief, paving the way for lifelong rule. Follow here for live updates.

The comment was attributed to a specific Xinhua reporter, a highly unusual move. Both Xi and Li appear to have nodded; it was not clear if Xi spoke. Hu spoke with the two men briefly and initially appeared reluctant to leave.

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Image courtesy of "CNN"

China's top leaders revealed as Xi Jinping cements grip on power ... (CNN)

Chinese leader Xi Jinping has formally stepped into his third term ruling China with an iron grip on power, as he revealed a top leadership body stacked ...

“The current situation is something unprecedented … we’re seeing a kind of re-centralised bureaucracy in China, which will definitely impact the future China’s economic foreign policy trajectory,” he said. Instead, Xi had filled the four open spots on the seven-member body with Xi long-time allies and proteges, Li Qiang, Cai Qi, Ding Xuexiang and Li Xi, clearing the path for him to rule for a third term with minimal internal resistance – and underlining that affinity to Xi trumps all else in China’s current political landscape.

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Image courtesy of "Bloomberg"

Your Sunday Asia Briefing: Meet the New Boss (Bloomberg)

The big reveal: President Xi Jinping is expected to lead out the parade of China's new supreme Politburo Standing Committee leaders at noon today after filling ...

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Image courtesy of "Aljazeera.com"

Xi Jinping secures historic third term as China's leader (Aljazeera.com)

Chinese Communist Party elects Xi Jinping as its general secretary for a precedent-breaking third term.

Shanghai Communist Party chief Li Qiang followed Xi, meaning that he is likely to succeed Li Keqiang as premier when the latter retires in March. Xi introduced the new lineup, walking at the head of the group as he lead them onto the stage at Beijing’s Great Hall of the People to meet reporters. The Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) elected Xi as its general secretary for a precedent-breaking five-year term on Sunday, tilting the country decisively back towards one-man rule after decades of power-sharing among its elites.

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Image courtesy of "CNBC"

China names Xi Jinping loyalists for core leadership group (CNBC)

Li Qiang, party secretary of Shanghai, walked out second behind Xi at a meeting with press on Sunday. Li is a known Xi loyalist and oversaw stringent Covid ...

Xi had set the stage for an unprecedented third, five-year term as president with constitutional changes in 2018. "We expect that policy focus will not be on launching new stimulus, but on implementing the existing policies and letting them take effect," Pang said. He said China could not develop in isolation from the world, but that the world also needs China. [achieve "national rejuvenation." Top-level economic policy in China is largely set by Politburo members. [affirmed China's greater focus on national security and "high-quality" growth.](https://www.cnbc.com/2022/10/16/chinas-xi-downplays-need-for-rapid-growth-proclaims-covid-achievements.html) In fact, that shift away from high-speed growth of past decades means [China faces "a new situation for attracting foreign investment,"](https://www.cnbc.com/2022/10/17/chinas-new-growth-goals-require-a-change-for-attracting-foreign-investors-official-says.html) an official at the economic planner said. However, Li Keqiang has been an official face and leader of implementation in his role as premier and the head of the State Council, China's top executive body. State positions such as president and premier won't be confirmed until the next annual meeting of the Chinese government, typically held in March. - State positions such as president and premier won't be confirmed until the next annual meeting of the Chinese government, typically held in March. Outgoing Premier Li Keqiang had walked out second behind Xi at a similar meeting with press after the conclusion of the party's 19th National Congress in 2017. [Xi Jinping](https://www.cnbc.com/xi-jinping/) broke precedent Sunday by paving the way for his third term as president, and the likely appointment of a premier with no prior experience as vice premier. - Chinese President Xi Jinping broke precedent Sunday by paving the way for his third term as president, and the likely appointment of a premier with no prior experience as vice premier.

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Image courtesy of "Axios"

Xi Jinping secures 3rd term as Chinese Communist Party leader (Axios)

The full membership roster of the new standing committee is Xi Jinping, Li Qiang, Zhao Leji, Wang Huning, Cai Qi, Ding Xuexiang and Li Xi. The Party ...

Li was in charge of Shanghai during its [heavily criticized](https://www.axios.com/2022/04/12/shanghai-china-covid-lockdowns)lockdown earlier this year, making his ongoing position heavily dependent on Xi's support. [said](https://www.theguardian.com/world/2022/oct/23/hu-jintao-not-feeling-well-when-he-left-china-congress-says-state-media)the former leader was not feeling well. [unexpectedly escorted out](https://www.axios.com/2022/10/22/former-chinese-leader-escorted-out-congress) of the closing ceremony of the Communist Party Congress on Saturday. [amended](https://www.reuters.com/world/china/chinas-communist-party-amends-its-charter-strengthens-xi-power-2022-10-22/)to enshrine Xi as the "core" leader. Li and Wang were [Xi Jinping](https://www.axios.com/2021/04/06/global-capitalism-china-repression-uyghurs) secured an unusual third term as leader of the Chinese Communist Party, the country's most powerful position, after a weeklong [Party congress session](https://www.axios.com/2022/10/16/xi-jinping-china-communist-party-congress-third-term) that ended on Sunday, [according](https://www.wsj.com/livecoverage/china-xi-jinping-communist-party-congress/card/xi-jinping-gets-third-term-as-chinese-communist-party-leader-w1eIar6VDgwVJb0uJ7Gv) to Chinese state media Xinhua News Agency.

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Image courtesy of "The Guardian"

In Mao's footsteps: Xi Jinping puts himself at core of China's ... (The Guardian)

On Saturday, it became clear that Xi had shuffled premier Li Keqiang and reformer Wang Yang into retirement, so he could pack the politburo standing committee – ...

“Xi’s policy of putting ideology and national security over economic development will continue for the coming five or even 10 years, as he is eager to rule until the 22nd party congress in 2032, when he will be 79.” Instead he abolished term limits on the presidency, is packing the government with allies, and could potentially become leader for life. The congress, the most important gathering of China’s five-year political cycle, brings 2,400 delegates from all over the country together to rubber-stamp decisions taken by the party elite. The 79-year-old seemed confused and reluctant to leave his seat on stage at the Great Hall of the People when he was approached by an aide or official, who whispered in his ear and tried to lift him from his seat. The week-long meeting was planned with precision and paranoia, and Xi emphasised party unity throughout. The closing session of the 20th congress of the Chinese Communist party (CCP) ended a weekend of triumph for Xi that makes him China’s most powerful ruler since Mao Zedong.

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Image courtesy of "NPR"

China's Xi Jinping expands powers and promotes allies (NPR)

BEIJING — President Xi Jinping, China's most powerful leader in decades, increased his dominance when he was named Sunday to another term as head of the ...

2 member and Zhao Leji, a member of the previous committee, was promoted to No. The promotion of Li Qiang was especially unusual because it puts him in line to be premier despite not having experience as a Cabinet minister or vice premier. Some new Standing Committee members lack national-level government experience that typically is seen as a requirement for the post. Xi announced Li Qiang, a former Shanghai party secretary who is no relation to Li Keqiang, was the No. The party also named a seven-member Standing Committee, its inner circle of power, dominated by Xi allies after Premier Li Keqiang, the No. The official Xinhua News Agency later reported Hu was in poor health and needed to rest.

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Image courtesy of "Forbes"

China's Xi Jinping Gets Third Leadership Term In “Most ... (Forbes)

The Chinese Communist Party Congress held in Beijing over the past week started out slow but has ended with a bang. China President Xi Jinping, as expected, ...

over Taiwan and Beijing’s close ties with Russia, and has been watched by governments, businesses and investors globally for signs of future policy directions in the world’s most populous nation and second-largest economy. Incumbent, reform-minded Premier Li Keqiang wasn’t named to the new Politiburo at a time when private sector business leaders are concerned about new income redistribution measures and a government tilt in favor of state-owned enterprises. “This is the most unforgettable meet in CCP (Chinese Communist Party) history,” Tweeted Yawei Lu, director of the China Program at The Carter Center. The party meeting came amid geopolitical tension with the U.S. Lu cited the secrecy around the event, “massive revision” of the party charter, party secretary’s Xi Jinping’s third term in the position, and the “humiliating exit” of Xi predecessor Hu Jintao, among other factors. China President Xi Jinping, as expected, has won a new term as Communist Party secretary at a congress that will be memorable for his display of political power and the dramatic exit of his predecessor Hu Jintao.

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Image courtesy of "Forbes"

China's Leader Xi Jinping Secures Third Term As His Rivals Fall Away (Forbes)

China's former President Hu Jintao is escorted out of the closing ceremony of the Communist Party's 20th National Congress as President Xi Jinping and ...

In his opening address of the party congress, Xi again praised his Covid-Zero policy as a “people’s war” that has prevented fatalities and protected lives, although he didn’t acknowledge the repeated city-wide lockdowns, food shortages and lack of medical supplies that resulted. Xi had rolled out his campaign for more affordable housing in 2017, which set off a wave of policies aimed at taming skyrocketing housing prices and reining in the excessive borrowing that had become common among Chinese property developers. And in a rare display of drama at an otherwise highly choreographed event, Hu Jintao, the 79-year-old predecessor to Xi, The elevation of Shanghai Party Secretary Li Qiang is particularly noteworthy and speaks volumes to Xi’s consolidation of power. Li is most well known for overseeing the bruising month-long lockdown of Shanghai earlier this year, which triggered widespread public anger and raised doubts as to whether he might still earn a much-coveted promotion. His appointment means that he will be in firm control of the world’s second-largest economy for at least another five years at a time when it increasingly finds itself on a collision course with the U.S.

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Image courtesy of "The Sun Daily"

Xi secures historic third term as China's leader (The Sun Daily)

“The new Politburo Standing Committee confirms decisively that Xi has consolidated power at the top of the Communist Party to an extent unseen since the Mao era ...

Xi has promoted a narrative in his first decade of power that he has rectified huge problems that beset China and the Communist Party during the reigns of Hu and his predecessors. In the most dramatic moment of the Congress, Hu Jintao -- Xi’s predecessor as party leader and president -- was forcibly led out of Saturday’s closing ceremony. Analysts had closely watched for whether the party charter would be amended during the Congress to enshrine “Xi Jinping Thought” as a guiding philosophy, a move that would put Xi on a par with Mao. On Saturday the delegates elected the Central Committee of around 200 senior party officials, who on Sunday chose the 24-person Politburo and the Standing Committee. “The new Politburo Standing Committee confirms decisively that Xi has consolidated power at the top of the Communist Party to an extent unseen since the Mao era,“ said Neil Thomas, a senior China analyst at Eurasia Group. Six of Xi’s proteges and allies were also unveiled on Sunday alongside him as members of the Politburo Standing Committee -- the party’s apex of power that rules the country.

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Image courtesy of "Financial Times"

Xi Jinping promotes loyal Shanghai chief to upper echelons of power (Financial Times)

Li Qiang becomes the party's second-highest ranking official after presiding over disruptive Covid lockdowns.

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China's Xi Jinping secures historic third term, becoming most ... (Hong Kong Free Press)

The Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Party elected Xi as its general secretary for another five-year term, Xinhua reported, tilting the country ...

[Newsletter](https://www.hongkongfp.com/newsletter/) [Error/typo?](https://www.hongkongfp.com/hkfp-corrections-policy/) [Contact Us](https://www.hongkongfp.com/contact-us/) [Code of Ethics](https://www.hongkongfp.com/hkfp-code-ethics/) [Support HKFP](https://support.hongkongfp.com/) Now, he is much better,” Xinhua said on Twitter, a social media platform that is blocked in China.

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China's leader Xi Jinping secures third term and stacks inner circle ... (The Guardian)

Xi unveiled as general secretary of ruling Communist Party, tilting China back towards one-man rule after decades of power-sharing among elite.

Like Xi, Cai spent many years in Fujian province at the start of his career, and moved on to Zhejiang. Where it previously listed Taiwan alongside Hong Kong and Macau as a place with which to “build solidarity”. For the first time in 25 years the new politburo contains no women members where previously there was one, vice-premier Sun Chunlan, and has reduced in number to 24 from 25. “The party and country risk becoming a ‘one-voice chamber’ where only one voice will be heard. The long-speculated reappointment signalled Xi’s successful and overwhelming consolidation of power in Beijing, with retention of the role as chair of the military commission, controlling the People’s Liberation Army. It now only swears to “resolutely oppose and constrain Taiwan independence”.

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Image courtesy of "BBC News"

Xi Jinping's party is just getting started (BBC News)

Comparing Xi Jinping to Mao Zedong is "inane", scoffs Rebecca Karl, a professor of Chinese History at New York University.

"China today has no socialist characteristics" she says "The subordination of labour to capital is complete. It's hard to deny that millions of Chinese hold Xi personally responsible for the cruelty of China's grim lockdowns. "Everything and everybody got a cut, but it got out of control," he adds. As I prepared to leave China in 2008, the Soviet-era airport had given way to a glittering megastructure designed by Norman Foster. In 1992, Deng - who had remained China's "paramount leader" - declared that the party should allow "some people to get rich first". The word on everyone's lips was "xia hai" or "dive into the sea". By the time I returned in 1998 the whole country had taken to heart Deng's invocation "to get rich is glorious". "My first introduction to China was in the 1980s, when the debates about China's future were huge, significant, and consequential," Prof Karl says. He ran the Communist Party - and the country - from the republic's founding in 1949 until the day he died in 1976. Hardliners, led by Premier Li Peng, believed the students' goal was to overthrow the party, and wanted the protests quashed. The truth is Xi's path to power was far from inevitable. He is known, only half-jokingly, as the Chairman of Everything.

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Image courtesy of "The Guardian"

Xi Jinping chooses 'yes men' over economic growth in politburo purge (The Guardian)

China's president doubles down on ruling for life, excluding potential future leaders or factional rivals.

Xi’s commitment to annex and “re-educate” Taiwan were this week enshrined in the party constitution. Hu was escorted from the stage at the closing of the party congress on Saturday, apparently reluctantly, in an episode that sealed Xi’s pre-eminence. Hu Chunhua had been tipped as a prospective new PSC member, but Xi found no place for the 59-year-old who was perceived by some analysts as a potential threat to the leader. “Xi has reiterated several times that the performance indicators that matters above all in Xi’s new era is political loyalty,” said Sung. A decade of political purges, increased surveillance and tightened social control has resulted in the 69-year-old leader consolidating personal power to a level not seen since Mao Zedong. For the first time in 25 years there was no woman on the politburo; there has never been a woman on the highest seat of power the politburo standing committee.

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