BEIJING, China 鈥撀燙hina鈥檚 five-yearly Communist Party Congress will end Saturday, with President Xi Jinping likely to seal a norm-breaking third term in power.
The closing ceremony at Beijing鈥檚 Great Hall of the People tops off a week of largely rubber-stamp meetings among 2,300 party delegates, who will approve a reshuffle of the party鈥檚 top leadership likely to have been determined well in advance.
Xi is widely expected to be unveiled as general secretary on Sunday, shortly after the first meeting of the newly elected Central Committee, a 200-member body of the party鈥檚 most senior officials.
This will allow Xi to sail through to a third term as China鈥檚 president, due to be announced during the government鈥檚 annual legislative sessions in March.
Xi previously abolished the presidential two-term limit in 2018, paving the way for him to rule indefinitely.
The weekend will also see the new Central Committee approve a reshuffled 25-member Politburo, as well as a Politburo Standing Committee 鈥 China鈥檚 apex of power 鈥 of around seven people, which analysts expect to be stacked with Xi allies.
At Sunday鈥檚 Congress opening ceremony, Xi delivered a 105-minute 鈥渨ork report鈥 lauding the party鈥檚 achievements and glossing over domestic problems such as the stalling economy and the damage wrought by his harsh zero-Covid policy.
Heavy on ideological rhetoric and light on policy, a defiant Xi also urged Communist Party members to steel themselves against numerous challenges including a hardening geopolitical climate.
鈥淲e must鈥 be ready to withstand high winds, choppy waters and even dangerous storms,鈥 he said.
鈥淐onfronted with drastic changes in the international landscape, especially external attempts to blackmail, contain, (and) blockade鈥 China, we have put our national interests first.鈥
Security was also a main focus of the speech, in which Xi lauded Hong Kong鈥檚 transition from 鈥渃haos to governance鈥 and vowed to 鈥渘ever commit to abandoning the use of force鈥 to seize the self-ruled island of Taiwan.
The work report 鈥渋s a carefully scripted drama through which the power of the Party, its leader, and its ideas are meant to be elevated and amplified鈥, wrote David Bandurski, editor of the University of Hong Kong鈥檚 China Media Project.
Power grab
The Congress this week is likely to further cement Xi鈥檚 position as China鈥檚 most powerful leader since Mao Zedong, with analysts predicting he is virtually certain to be reappointed for a third term in power.
But some key questions remain unresolved, including whether Xi, 69, will appoint a potential successor to the Politburo Standing Committee and whether a pithier form of his signature political philosophy will be enshrined in the charter of the 96-million-strong party.
The latter would make Xi Jinping Thought 鈥渢he latest, 21st-century rendition of Marxism (and) the state ideology of China鈥, said Steve Tsang, director of the SOAS China Institute at the University of London.
鈥淴i鈥檚 power will be akin to that of the dictator of China, and there will be next to no scope for anyone to advise him to attempt course correction,鈥 Tsang told AFP.
鈥淭his will increase the risk of policy mistakes being made, as everything will depend on Xi getting it right.鈥