China’s Xi Jinping has been elected as the party’s leader for an unprecedented third term.
The two-decade tradition of leaders changing positions after two five-year mandates as the head of the Chinese Communist Party is broken by his extension of power.
Xi paved the way for his political re-selection by scrapping two-term limits and purging political rivals through anti-corruption campaigns.
He will start his third term with more authority and fewer constraints.
He has elevated loyalists, driven out moderates, and had the constitution formally recognise him as the country’s core leader.
In a speech that was translated, Xi declared, “We are fully confident and capable of creating new and even greater miracles on the new journey of the new era – miracles that will astound the world.”
Since Mao Zedong, Xi, 69, has become China’s most powerful leader.
He is still a young man for a leader, therefore he might easily reign for another ten to fifteen years, according to Jason Young, director of the New Zealand Contemporary China Research Centre.
Seven males have been chosen to lead China for the next five years after a week of discussions behind closed doors; once again, no woman has ever achieved the position of power.
Their greatest challenge will be to revive China’s lagging economy.
“The CCP’s legitimacy is not built on elections, so they promise the people we’re going to make you moderately prosperous, right, so if they don’t deliver on that what else do they deliver on,” said Alex Tan an International Relations Professor.
Lockdowns at COVID have harmed the economy, and this year’s growth predictions are just approximately 3%, which is much less than the 7% of the previous ten years.
According to David Mahon, a Kiwi businessman in China, “there is a lot of worry that it would halt and possibly even produce patches of recession around the country. However, I think they will make it through because, unlike the West, Chinese households have high savings rates.”
They anticipate reaching at least a middle level by 2037, according to Alex Tan. However, for economic progress to take place, the world must remain relatively stable.
In addition to being significant for Xi’s consolidation of power, the 20th Party Congress will also be remembered for a rare instance of unscripted drama.
The 79-year-old former president Hu Jintao was removed out of yesterday’s closing ceremony, according to the official news agency Xinhua, because he was not feeling well.
Although the incident has gone viral, it is not accessible on China’s strictly regulated social media sites.
Xi Jinping remains in office for an unprecedented third term in China.
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