(HRNW) – China’s 20th Communist Party Congress wraps up this weekend, with Xi Jinping poised to clinch his third five-year stint in charge – a mandate that would secure his place as the country’s most powerful ruler since founding leader Mao Zedong.
* Xi opened the week-long, twice-a-decade session on Sunday with a speech touting China’s fight against COVID-19, the party’s safeguarding of national security, maintaining social stability, protecting people’s lives and taking control of the situation in Hong Kong, which was rocked by anti-government protests in 2019. He re-emphasised the importance of economic development and also called for accelerating the building of a world-class military.
* The big reveal – who will be on seven-member Politburo Standing Committee – will be on Sunday when Xi walks into a room of journalists at Beijing’s Great Hall of the People, followed by the other members in descending order of rank.
* Little is known about who will be promoted into which key roles on the PSC or the broader Politburo – although the number of women is likely to remain very small, and there has never been a woman on the Standing Committee. Here are some of the leading contenders and some scenarios to look out for.