Xi Jinping, China’s most powerful leader since Mao Zedong – ‘We achieved two miracles’

Chinese President Xi Jinping was today re-elected as head of the Communist Party, with the main body of power now made up of his close allies, and thus became the strongest leader of the country afterwards Mao Zedong, founder of the regime.

The Beijing strongman vowed to “work hard to carry out” his “duties” after securing a third five-year term as general secretary of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP).

At the Palace of the People in Beijing, Xi Jinping, China’s president for the past 10 years, took to the podium today, accompanied by six people appointed to the top of Chinese power, all his inner circle and allies.

Xi “sincerely thanked the party plenary for trusting us,” the new leadership team.

The CCP’s 20th congress ended yesterday after a week of closed-door deliberations, during which 65 percent of the members of the Central Committee, a kind of internal party “parliament,” were renewed, according to AFP calculations.

At their first meeting today, the 205 members of the Commission — of which only 11 are women— appointed the 24 representatives to the Politburo, the decision-making body in the Communist Party. In it, for the first time in 25 years, there is no woman. Sun Chunlan, the only woman to serve on the 25-member body, retired and no woman was appointed to replace her.

He also today named the party’s new Standing Committee, a powerful body that effectively holds power in China.

Under General Secretary Xi Jinping, the Commission is now made up exclusively of close allies of Xi. Li Qiang, head of the party organization in Shanghai, thus ranks second on the protocol, despite the chaotic way he handled the metropolis’s major lockdown in the spring. That means, according to reports, he is to be named prime minister at the annual meeting next March, replacing 67-year-old Li Keqiang, who is stepping down.

The new Standing Committee, now controlled by close Xi allies, reaffirms Xi Jinping’s control over policymaking, analysts say.

“They are all Xi’s people, it shows that he wants to rule beyond a third term,” meaning beyond 2027, said Alfred Wu Muluan, an expert on Chinese politics at the National University of Singapore.

With his elevation once again to the position of general secretary of the party, Xi Jinping secures a third presidential term next March. To stay in power, the Beijing strongman had to revise the Constitution in 2018 to remove the two-term limit.