China appoints Xi Jinping supporters as core leadership

BEIJING — China’s President Xi Jinping broke precedent on Sunday by paving the way for a third term as president and likely appointing an unprecedented premier as vice premier.

Li Qiang, party secretary in Shanghai, was the second to walk out after Xi at a press conference on Sunday. Li, a known Xi Jinping supporter, oversaw a draconian coronavirus response in Shanghai earlier this year.

State titles such as president and prime minister are not confirmed until the next annual meeting of the Chinese government, which usually takes place in March.

Outgoing Premier Li Keqiang was the second to leave after Xi at a similar press conference after the party’s 19th National Congress in 2017.

Since Li Keqiang, all modern Chinese premiers have served as vice premiers, with the exception of the first. However, according to state media biography, Li Qiang has never held the role of deputy prime minister.

In addition to Xi and Li Qiang, five people have been nominated to the new Politburo Standing Committee, the center of power for the Communist Party of China. Wang Wangning, known for his research on ideology. Kai Qi, secretary of the Beijing Party. Ding Xuexiang, known as Xi’s Chief of Staff, and Li Xi, Party Secretary of Guangdong Province.

Xi was re-elected as party general secretary and chairman of the Central Military Commission. His third position as chairman of China is likely to be formally confirmed in March. With a 2018 constitutional amendment, Xi was gearing up for his unprecedented third term as president for his five-year term.

According to state media, Lee Hee has been named as the new chairman of the Party’s Central Commission for Discipline Inspection.

In his speech on Sunday, Xi stressed the party’s leadership in “a new journey to transform China into a modern socialist country,” according to the official translation.

He said that China cannot develop in isolation from the world, but that the world also needs China. President Xi Jinping said China will open its doors “more than ever”, and will “comprehensively deepen reform and opening up and pursue high-quality development.”

Foreign companies and investors are wary of China after the government cracked down on internet technology companies over the past two years and implemented draconian coronavirus measures.

The Chinese Communist Party’s 20th National Congress this month has been noted as a signal of how far President Xi Jinping may consolidate his power.

Four of the Politburo Standing Committee’s seven previous members were not on the list of new Central Committee members announced Saturday. was only three people.

Its Central Committee determines the core leadership: the Politburo and its Standing Committees.

China’s top-level economic policy is primarily set by members of the Politburo. Li Keqiang, however, was the official face and implementation leader in his role as prime minister and as head of China’s highest administrative body, the State Council.

In addition to ousting allegedly corrupt officials, Mr. Xi has consolidated power over the past decade in a group that shirks typical economic policy-making responsibilities for a prime minister, Reuters said.

Prominent ministry heads who remained on the list of the new Party Central Committee include:

• He Lifeng, director of the National Development and Reform Commission
• Yi Huiman, Chief of the China Securities Regulatory Commission, said:
• Zhuang Rongwen, Director General of China’s Cyberspace Administration, said:

NDRC’s He was also appointed to the new Politburo.

Bruce Pang, chief economist at JLL and head of Greater China research, said some of the Central Committee’s appointees have experience in finance and local government. It will not lead to dramatic changes in macropolicy.”

“We expect the policy focus to be on implementing existing policies and making them effective, rather than launching new stimulus packages,” Pang said. “Therefore, it remains important to support domestic demand in order to support employment.”

Pang also noted that Li Qiang previously headed three provincial-level regions, including Shanghai, which is known for its contribution to China’s “opening up” and economic growth.

Xi’s opening speech at the 20th National Congress of the Communist Party of China confirmed that China will place more emphasis on national security and “quality” growth. In fact, the turnaround from the rapid growth of past decades means that China faces “new conditions to attract foreign investment,” economic planners said.

Gabriel Wildow, managing director of consulting firm Teneo, said in a memo that Xi’s report to Congress “delivers a strong message of policy continuity” but has competing objectives and is a kind of economic threat. It suggests that growth takes precedence over other things, he said.

“Communist Party leaders want advanced manufacturing and technology to be the main drivers of growth,” Wildo said.

Xi also stressed the need for unity within the Chinese Communist Party to achieve “national renewal.” The 20th National Congress, which ended on Saturday, agreed to amend the constitution to include more “Xi Jinping Thought,” according to state media.

For many China watchers, the question is not how Xi will consolidate power, but who his successor will be.

Yuen Yuen An, an associate professor of political science at the University of Michigan, wrote in the Journal of Democracy in July that the Chinese bureaucracy had lost autonomy under Mr. said to be intensifying.

The threat to the Chinese Communist Party’s hold on power, she said, “will be a succession race under President Xi’s individualistic rule.”