China’s Communist Party (CPC) is all set to unveil its new leadership for the coming five years. on Sunday, October 23, While, The General Secretary and President Xi Jinping will begin his third term as a party general-secretary, but large scale changes of the CPC’s leadership comprising among the top rung of leaders will take place.

Mr. Xi Jinping will address 2,296 party delegates in Beijing, on Sunday morning

It has been the norm at several consecutive congresses to unveil the new leadership, a day after the meeting winds up.

Mr. Xi Jinping will open a week-long national congress, which is held every five years. Here, he will address 2,296 party delegates outlining the broad direction of the country’s policies for the coming five years in Beijing on Sunday morning.

Also, the members of the current seven-member Politburo Standing Committee (PBSC) which is the highest and prominent decision-making body in the CPC hierarchy are expected to be replaced as part of the changes in leadership, following the first sitting of the new Central Committee.

The 20th party congress will open at 10 o’clock on October 16 at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing. It will be held from October 16 to October 22,” Sun Yeli, spokesperson for the congress, announced at a press conference on Saturday.

Current Premier Li Keqiang, who is the member of the standing committee, will not continue as premier but there is conjecture whether he might continue as chief of China’s rubber stamp parliament, the National People’s Congress.

The 20th Communist Party Congress will be held on October 16, at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing

‘The 20th party congress will open at 10 o’clock on October 16, at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing. The event will conclude on October 22, by when it would have authorised an amendment to the party Constitution and chosen the next Central Committee, which will have around 370 members’, Sun Yeli, spokesperson for the party’s 20th national congress, told the reporters on Saturday.

The constitutional amendment as well as the line-up of upcoming leaders who will join Mr. Xi on the PBSC are expected to speak Mr. Xi’s continuing control over the party and his “core” status.

Sun said,”The amendment will fully enshrine the latest accomplishments in adapting Marxism to the Chinese context and to the necessities of the times”.

Also added, “It will also embody the new ideas, strategies and thoughts on national governance”.

The party constitution was amended before in 2017, to include Mr. Xi Jinping’s ideology, called “Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era”.

Mr. Xi is the first leader after Mao to have an eponymous ideology, his was called “Mao Zedong Thought” enshrined while in office in the party charter.

Perspectives: The Dynamic COVID-Zero Strategy in China

China’s “dynamic zero Covid” policy to deal with COVID-19 epidemic are the most cost-effective: Sun Yeli

While answering to an interrogation in the press conference, Sun said China’s “Dynamic zero-Covid” policy to deal with the Covid-19 epidemic are the most cost-effective and have worked out in the best way for the country and were “adopted in light of China’s national realities and it is a science-based policy” including a large elderly population.

He mounted a defence of the party’s record in the past decade on Saturday, including Mr. Xi’s stringent “zero-COVID” regime that saw China’s growth tumble to 0.4% in the second quarter.

The party has highlighted the anti-corruption campaign, the COVID-19 policies and its declaration of the elimination of extreme poverty last year as among Mr. Xi’s legacies. Mr. Sun mentioned that 4.4 million people had been investigated for corruption under Mr. Xi in the past decade.

Sun said “Since the beginning of the epidemic, China has put people and people’s lives front and center,” adding to it. Also said “We give more importance to people’s health and safety and this is part and parcel of our epidemic response efforts.”

Mr. Sun on Saturday mounted a defence of the party’s record in the past decade, including Mr. Xi’s stringent “zero-COVID” regime that saw China’s growth plummet to 0.4% in the second quarter.

China all set to reveal new leadership on October 23, Xi Jinping to stay for third term - Asiana Times — Spokesperson Sun Yeli is seen on a video screen as he speaks via video link during a press conference held for the 20th National Congress of China’s ruling Communist Party in Beijing, October 15, 2022.(Pic source: Midland Daily news)

Sun said, ‘China reserves the right to use force over Taiwan as a last resort’

Beijing is continously raising military and political pressure on the island. It is alleging an alliance between Taipei and Washington which is resulting in tension between self-governing and democratic Taiwan and China in recent months.

On Taiwan’s issue, Sun said “China reserves the right to use force over Taiwan as a last resort though peaceful reconciliation is its first choice”.

“I’m not encouraging to renounce the use of force, we are in no way targeting our Taiwan compatriots, but rather an extremely small number of ‘Taiwan independence’ elements and their separatist activities and foreign activities”, Sun said, also adding that the aim is to advance the process of China’s peaceful reconciliation.