(Beijing) The Chinese Communist Party will hold its congress on October 16, state media announced on Tuesday, a decisive meeting which should allow President Xi Jinping to snatch an unprecedented third term at the head of China.
Posted at 8:57
Barring a dramatic change, Mr. Xi should become the first president to stay in power for a third coronation at the head of the most populous country on the planet.
During the previous congress in 2017, the strong man from Beijing had entered his “thought” into the founding documents of the Party.
A few months later, the Constitution was amended to remove the limit of two presidential terms. Xi Jinping can therefore in theory preside over the People’s Republic for life.
This congress, on the 20e since the establishment of the CCP in 1921, should also lead to a broad recomposition of the Standing Committee of the Politburo, the all-powerful seven-member body that holds the reality of power in China.
According to unwritten traditions, part of the current members of the ruling coven reach the age at which they are supposed to retire.
With 2,300 delegates, the CPC’s general assembly will be held at “a key moment when the whole Party and all ethnic groups in the country are engaged in building a modern socialist country”, state television said on Tuesday. CCTV.
While the communist regime gives the appearance of unity, behind the scenes rivalries are rife and the president is still seeking to consolidate his power, analysts say.
Tensions and difficulties
Since Xi Jinping took over as Party-state leader in late 2012, more than 1.5 million cadres have been disciplined in a sweeping anti-corruption campaign, according to official figures stretching back several years. .
The Chinese number one has long been suspected of using this campaign to attack his internal opposition.
The Party Congress will open at a time when China is facing many difficulties.
After years of frantic development, the Asian giant is now facing a sharp slowdown in its growth. And unemployment has risen sharply among 16-24 year olds (nearly 20%).
However, the Party derives its main legitimacy from the increase in the purchasing power of the population.
The zero COVID-19 strategy, defended tooth and nail by President Xi, is also increasingly contested by the general public and especially the business community, who are alarmed by the threats that confinements pose to the activity.
The authorities decree localized confinements, impose in certain places PCR tests every 72 or even 48 hours and pose the risk of quarantine on any traveler going to another province.
Internationally, points of contention have also multiplied between Xi Jinping’s China and the great American rival: trade and technology, the fate of the Uyghur minority in Xinjiang, repression in Hong Kong, but also tensions around Taiwan.
China thus carried out at the beginning of August unprecedented military maneuvers in their scale near this island on which Beijing claims sovereignty.
A message of firmness addressed to Washington after the visit deemed provocative to Taiwan by the American number three Nancy Pelosi.