China finalizes the preparations for its XX National Congress with the future of the prime minister on the table

Xi Jinping will be declared secretary general for the third consecutive time in an unprecedented consolidation of his political dominance

MADRID, 9 Oct. (EUROPA PRESS) -

The leadership of the Communist Party of China began its preparatory session this Sunday with a view to the opening, on October 16, of the 20th National Congress of the Party where the country's president, Xi Jinping, will see his mandate renewed as head of the secretariat general for the third consecutive time, an unprecedented phenomenon, and the future of the country's prime minister, Li Keqiang, who has already announced his retirement, will be decided.

More than 2,000 members are expected to meet in Beijing to draw up new policies for "the comprehensive construction of a modern socialist country" at a "crucial moment", according to the state news agency Xinhua.

The National Congress, the meeting that traces the main lines of the next five years of political, social, economic and cultural life of the country, will be the most important political event of the year; a meeting that is held twice every decade and in which the leadership of the party usually ends up renewed, amid rumors about the election of a successor to the prime minister, 67 years old and directly responsible for the application of the country's economic policy .

Media from neighboring countries such as the official Kiodo news agency pick up speculation about the possible successors, such as the president of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference, Wang Yang, 67, or Vice Prime Minister Hu Chunhua , 59 years old.

Be that as it may, the National Congress is expected to see the farewell to the prime minister, who will have to wait until March 2023 to finish his post anyway, although his name is likely to be excluded from the list of party Politburo leaders. after this congress.

Who will remain unscathed will be the Chinese president, absolute favorite for a third term after the elimination of the previous limit of two consecutive secretaries, now turned into the omnipotent guide of the country.

Throughout the Congress there will be room for all issues of exceptional importance both domestically, such as the zero tolerance policy against the coronavirus pandemic, and internationally, in the case of the historic sovereign conflict with Taiwan or relations with Russia in the framework of the Ukrainian war.

At the previous national congress held in November 2021, Xi mentioned former party leaders Mao Zedong, Deng Xiaoping, Jiang Zemin and Hu Jintao as leaders of all ethnic groups and the Chinese people in the "vital breakthrough of the Chinese revolution". , construction and reforms with precious accumulated experience".

The publication of the document was surprising for being a "historic resolution" like the one of 1945 that gave Mao personalist control of the party for decades or the one that Deng published in 1981 condemning Mao's Great Leap Forward and his Cultural Revolution to open the way to the liberalization and the market economy.