All predictions came true this Sunday when President Xi Jinping, 69, renewed his post as General Secretary of the Communist Party (CCP) for an unprecedented third term in modern China. His appointment puts an end to the 20th Party Congress held in Beijing this week, in which the president further cemented his power and managed to win over command posts with close allies.
Xi, the son of a revolutionary comrade-in-arms of Mao Zedong, took office in 2012, and has since become the country's most powerful Chinese leader in decades. After modifying the constitutional limit of two maximum terms in 2018, it was assumed that he would continue to lead the world's second largest economy for at least a third year. Among his main challenges, dealing with an economy in low hours, drawing up an exit plan for the covid zero policy or facing external challenges such as the increase in tension with the United States.
The presentation in society of the new leadership of the party took place at noon this Sunday (local time). In an act orchestrated to the millimeter, Xi first crossed some large golden doors before walking the red carpet of the Great Hall of the People. After him, the rest of the members of the Permanent Committee, the highest body of power of the party, appeared in order of importance in the new organization chart.
“I have been re-elected as general secretary of the CPC Central Committee,” Xi told the crowd of reporters at home and abroad before introducing the other six members, all men in their 60s.
The second in order of appearance is the general secretary of the PCCh in Shanghai, Li Qiang (63 years old), who is linked by a close relationship with the president. As the party's new number two, this man is set to take over as prime minister when the current one, Li Keqiang, steps down early next year. His promotion entered the pools, although in recent months it has been questioned given his disastrous management of the coronavirus outbreak that forced Shanghai to close for more than two months in the spring.
Positions three and four on the committee went to Zhao Leji (65 years old) and Wang Huning (67 years old), the only two along with Xi to repeat their mandate. Until now, the former has led the body in charge of the fight against corruption, a very popular campaign that has also served Xi to corner his rivals, while the latter is the main adviser and ideologue of the PCCh and is committed to a strong and centralized.
The remaining three members are all new faces. Cai Qi (66 years old) is the general secretary of the party in the capital and already collaborated with Xi when he led the CCP in Zhejiang province years ago. Ding Xuexiang (60) is another well-known ally of the leader since they began working together in Shanghai years ago, and in recent times has played a role similar to that of the president's chief of staff. The latest is Li Xi (66 years old), current general secretary of the party in Guangzhou province.
"The new inner circle (of power) will broaden and enhance the current political posture," analyzed Gary Ng, a regional analyst at Natixis. For him, the presence of key allies is a further power consolidation move. "Performance (in office) is important, but also loyalty is increasingly a key aspect when choosing new officers," he added.
The new composition ultimately left out Vice Premier Hu Chunhua, the only representative of former President Hu Jintao's faction who had ballots to enter. In this way, in the leadership there is no longer any representative of the League of Communist Youth, considered the most liberal and pragmatic faction (premier Li is one of them). The day before, there was a very unusual moment when Hu himself was forced to leave the room where the closing ceremony was being held, where he was sitting right next to Xi.
In the absence of an official explanation, speculation soon arose that pointed to a public purge or humiliation of the former president. Meanwhile, others more cautious pointed out that it must be a health problem, something plausible given how deteriorated his appearance was in his last appearances.
Late at night, state television CCTV showed footage of the congress in which Hu appeared before the incident. For its part, the Xinhua news agency tweeted that Hu insisted on attending the closing ceremony despite being in the process of recovery. “Since he was not feeling well during the session, his staff, for his health, accompanied him to a room next to the meeting place to rest. Now it is much better, “they pointed out.
Even so, doubts persist as to why they waited to get him out until the journalists began to enter the room or why they did not clarify what happened from the first moment if it really was a temporary indisposition.
In his brief speech today, the Chinese leader also made no reference to the incident. In his place, he called on his formation to continue to "bloom in its own revolution" and become the "strongest and most reliable backbone of the Chinese people." He also reiterated that the world faces "unprecedented challenges" and warned, as he did in his inaugural address a week ago, that they must be prepared for "strong winds, rough waters and dangerous storms."
In addition, he assured that the country will continue to open up to the outside world and create opportunities for the rest of the world through its own development. "China cannot develop without the world, and the world also needs China," she stressed at another point.
With his words, Xi put an end to a congress in which some amendments to the Constitution were also approved that strengthen its role as the "core" of the party. With the new leadership full of allies, the president will now have even more room to continue developing his policies and plan his future succession if he ultimately decides not to remain in office forever.
