Xi’s iron grip holds firm as Communist party caucus approaches

The announcement of a Chinese Communist party meeting that is expected to cement Xi Jinping’s agenda for the coming years shows the strength of his “ultimate authority”, analysts have said.

- Helen Davidson and Vincent Ni

The CCP ’s twice-a-decade meeting will begin on 16 October and is likely to run for several days. Xi, considered the most powerful Chinese leader since Mao Zedong, is expected to further consolidate his political power, which he has wielded with increasing authoritarianism since taking charge of the party in late 2012. He abolished the two-term presidential limit in 2018.

The meeting will bring together more than 2,000 party members in a process of selecting new officials for the elite 200-member central committee . Some will be promoted to the 25-member politburo, and some to the powerful seven-member standing committee. The event will also announce future policy directions.

Analysts have said the date suggests that any in-party disputes have been reined in, and the new committee members are likely to have been finalised. Dr Yu Jie, a senior research fellow on China at Chatham House, an international affairs thinktank in London, said the announcement was a “sure sign of strength [of Xi’s] ultimate authority within the party” .