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China’s ruling party kicks off plenary expected to boost Xi’s power

Chinese Communist Party’s 400-plus member Central Committee likely to pave the way for President Xi Jinping to secure an unprecedented third five-year term as president at the 20th Party Congress next year.

AP

President X Jinpingi opened the meeting by presenting a resolution to set the stage for the 20th Party Congress next year, at which it is widely expected he will declare that he will serve a third term in office.

The top leaders of China's ruling Communist Party have started a pivotal meeting expected to further firm President Xi Jinping's grip on power.

Some 400 members of the party's powerful Central Committee gathered in Beijing on Monday for the four-day plenary.

State news agency Xinhua said Xi opened the meeting with a work report and "explanations on a draft resolution on the major achievements and historical experience" for the party through its 100-year history.

Monday's meeting, like all meetings of China's secretive leadership, is being held behind closed doors.

Steering the post-pandemic economy as well as the question of Taiwan could also be on the meeting agenda this week.

Rewriting history

The Central Committee resolution would mark the third of its kind in the history of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP).

The first, passed under Mao in 1945, helped cement his authority over the CCP four years before it seized power.

The second, under Deng Xiaoping in 1981, saw the regime adopt economic reforms and recognise the "mistakes" of Mao's ways.

This third resolution will set the stage for the 20th Party Congress next year, at which Xi is widely expected to declare that he will serve a third term in office, cementing his position as China's most powerful leader since Mao Zedong.

Having scrapped term limits in a 2018 constitutional amendment, Xi has not appointed a clear successor and is expected to lead until at least 2027.

The CPC Central Committee meets at least once a year, and is reshuffled every five years during the national congress.

State media has hailed Xi's leadership in the run-up to this week's meeting, with Xinhua declaring he is "a man of profound thoughts and feelings."

As well as "a man who inherited a legacy but dares to innovate, and a man who has forward-looking vision and is committed to working tirelessly."