The strong man of Beijing remains at the head of power in China. Chinese President Xi Jinping was reappointed for five years as General Secretary of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), according to the official agency, Sunday, October 23, becoming the most powerful leader since Mao Tse-tung, founder of the regime.
His renewal was announced at the end of a congress which allowed Xi Jinping to strengthen his power over the Communist Party. The leader, also reappointed to the head of the Chinese army, must be officially confirmed as the country’s presidency in March 2023.
To stay in power, Xi Jinping had the limit of two presidential terms removed from the Constitution in 2018. In a decade at the head of China, Xi Jinping has succeeded in making the country the second largest economy in the world, endowed with one of the most powerful armies in the world. The leader, however, has gradually concentrated all the powers at the head of the party and China, while carrying out a severe crackdown on any dissent. Despite an almost total concentration of power, he will have to face a sharply slowing economy, in particular due to his “zero Covid” policy, an exacerbated rivalry with the United States and international criticism of human rights.
The president has placed several of his allies in the Standing Committee, the seven-man group at the pinnacle of power in China.
The four new members of the Committee are close to Xi, strengthening his position within the party. Li Qiang, party leader in Shanghai, thus climbs to second place in the protocol, despite his chaotic management of the city’s long confinement in the spring. He should thus be appointed Prime Minister at the annual meeting in March, replacing Li Keqiang.
Ding Xuexiang, Xi Jinping’s private secretary, Li Xi, party chief in southern Guangdong Province, and Cai Qi, party chief in Beijing, are also joining the Standing Committee, according to state television footage from Monday. People’s Palace in Beijing.