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TNN
March 6, 2017
BEIJING: With Premier Li Keqiang describing him as the “centre of gravity in China’s politics” five times on Sunday, Xi Jinping‘s second term as Communist Party general secretary -and the President of the Republic -is expected to be confirmed when the National Party Congress meets later this year.
Of the tasks before his government in 2017 while presenting the work report, as budget proposals are called in China, the first one on Keqiang’s list is to “follow the leadership of Party Central Committee with Comrade Xi Jinping as its core”.
This is hugely significant because China describes issues like security as “core interest” linked to the country’s sovereignty . The Party Congress is expected to see major changes in the sevenmember Politburo Standing Committee, the power base of the Communist Party .
Xi will now have his own close followers in the new standing committee, observers said. Xi’s influence has grown over the past five years through measures that include intense anti-corruption campaign sending thousands of Communist cadre out of jobs or to jails.
Xi, who is the chairman of the Central Military Commission, also restructured the military , closing down several positions and creating new ones at the level of generals.
“We owe all achievements over the past year to the sound leadership of the Party Central Committee with Comrade Xi Jinping at its core and the concerted efforts of the party , the military , and the people of all our nation’s ethnic groups,” Li said.
