China to Begin March to Party Congress With November Meeting
China’s Top Leaders to Meet in November to Discuss Achievements
(Bloomberg) -- China’s ruling party will convene for the first time in more than a year in November, laying the ground for a twice-a-decade party congress in 2022 that could extend Xi Jinping’s term as leader.
The Communist Party’s Central Committee will take up a broad agenda in the closed-door conclave focused on the party’s achievements, state media including China Central Television said Tuesday. The typically once-a-year event is the most important in China’s political calendar, bringing together about 400 state leaders, ministers, military chiefs, provincial bosses and top academics for the better part of a week.
The Central Committee, which usually meets at the military-run Jingxi Hotel in Beijing, will review and adopt new policies before a party congress next fall, where Xi could secure a third term as party leader. Plenary sessions at this point in the party’s five-year cycle of meetings tend to focus on ideology and party-building, according to an analysis by the party-run People’s Daily newspaper.
The key agenda item of this meeting will be reviewing the major achievements of the party and its historical experiences over the 100 years since its founding, the official Xinhua News Agency said, citing a Politburo decision presided over by Xi. “Through such reflection on its history, the whole party should fulfill its original aspiration and founding mission more firmly and consciously, and better promote socialism with Chinese characteristics in the new era,” the Politburo said.
Deng Yuwen, a former editor at the party-run journal, the Study Times, said the wording suggested that another “historical resolution” could be in the making. The party previously issued such documents in 1945 under Mao Zedong and in 1981 under Deng Xiaoping, with the latter resolution acknowledging that the decade-long Cultural Revolution was “initiated and led by” Mao and “led to domestic turmoil and brought catastrophe.”
Separately, Xi will address the China International Fair for Trade in Services on Thursday in Beijing, the Commerce Ministry said in a statement. Last year, the Chinese president used the event to reaffirm the country’s interest in opening up to the world.
Investors have shown growing unease over crackdowns on China’s private sector in recent months by dumping shares. A renewed focus on “common prosperity,” or the need to spread China’s wealth more evenly, has led to speculation over a revamp of tax policies to redistribute income.
Beijing has already said it would investigate individuals who concealed their high incomes, while billionaires have made record donations amid tighter regulations on the technology sector. Officials, however, have been quick to point out that China does not intend to “rob the rich to give to the poor.”
The Politburo meeting Tuesday also discussed the latest wave of Xi’s yearslong campaign against corruption and the party’s shakeup of education policies.
“The meeting stressed keeping to the socialist orientation in running schools, cultivating talent for the party and the country, and strengthening the governance system and capacity of colleges and universities,” Xinhua said.
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With assistance from Bloomberg