China opens a twice-a-decade party conference at which leader Xi Jinping is expected to receive a third five-year term that breaks with recent precedent and establishes himself as arguably the most powerful Chinese politician since Mao Zedong.
According to international media, almost 2,300 delegates from the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) have gathered in Beijing for a congress that is expected to deliver President Xi Jinping a historic third term in control of a country his zero-Covid policy has closed off from much of the rest of the world.
On Sunday, Xi walked onstage to thunderous applause from thousands of hand-picked delegates, who have gathered at Beijing’s Great Hall of the People for the five-yearly event.
In his opening address the leader hailed the CCP and said the Congress was taking place at a “critical moment” for the country.
“The situation in Hong Kong has achieved a major transition from chaos to governance,” Xi said, while vowing a “major struggle against separatism and interference” in Taiwan.
China will “never commit to abandoning the use of force” on Taiwan, Xi added.
He said China had “protected people’s safety and health to the highest degree and achieved significant positive results in coordinating epidemic prevention and control and social and economic development”.
Xi said the party of 96 million members “has won the largest battle against poverty in human history.”
China’s Communist Party meets to hand Xi Jinping third term
