Communist Party Conference - Xi Gains More Power

The president of China, Xi Jinping. Source for image: Wikimedia

The Chinese Communist Party concluded its 20th national party conference on October 22, 2022. During the conference, the party established its policy framework for the upcoming five years and adjusted its top leadership structure. Foreign analysts followed the party conference with interest, as the party’s leadership selection can provide critical insights towards the country’s intended future policy directions.

Perhaps the strongest signals emerged during the unveiling of the party’s new Politburo and its Standing Committee. Xi Jinping, the current president of China, uprooted decades of convention to ensure that he and his most loyal followers held the highest positions in Chinese politics. Breaking with an unofficial two-term limit tradition instituted in the early 1990’s, Xi appointed himself to a third term as President of China and General Secretary of the Chinese Communist Party. And contrary to the party’s traditional policy of mandatory retirement for top officials at the age of 68, the 69-year old Xi appointed 72-year old Zhang Youxia to lead the Central Military Commission and 67-year old Wang Huning to a Politburo seat.

In another break with expectations, Xi also removed top officials connected to former presidents Li Keqiang and Jiang Zemin. Though former vice premier Wang Yang was expected to take on the premiership, the second highest position in Chinese politics, he was sidelined in favor of Li Qiang. Notably, Li Qiang is the first ever premier of the state council to have never been vice premier, and he faced backlash resulting from his management of the COVID-19 pandemic in Shanghai. Yet Li Qiang has spent his career in Xi’s shadow, and Wang Yang rose through the ranks of the opposing China Youth League faction. Thus, by elevating Li Qiang despite unpopularity and lack of experience, Xi further cemented his control over the Chinese state apparatus.

This restructuring of the leadership was perhaps most vividly highlighted when former president Hu Jintao was abruptly removed from the closing ceremony of the party conference. Though the party later cited health reasons as the cause, Hu was seen reaching towards a document immediately prior to his removal. Hu himself is not a direct rival to Xi, though Hu has developed an alternative network of proteges independent of Xi’s. Hu’s removal brought into stark focus the fact that by the end of the conference, the entire top Party leadership was composed solely of Xi loyalists, with rival factions such as Hu’s sidelined.

Xi’s consolidation of power concerns China’s business community. Traditionally, Chinese entrepreneurs have tacitly accepted single-party rule and political centralization as a price for accruing wealth in China’s strong markets. Yet the restructuring of the party apparatus has made some Chinese business owners look for opportunities abroad, perhaps even permanently. 

The 2022 Chinese Communist party conference shows Xi’s willingness to break with rules and tradition to entrench his personal power. Despite rumblings of concern from the business community, Xi’s centralization of power will make the already slim chance of internal challenge increasingly unlikely. Whether the uncertainty will lead to a noticeable decrease in private investment or declining economic growth remains to be seen, but it is unlikely to significantly alter Xi’s position.