BEIJING (AP) \u2014 China\u2019s ruling Communist Party reaffirmed President Xi Jinping\u2019s continued dominance in running the nation Saturday, one day ahead of giving him a widely expected third five-year term as leader.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
A\u00a0party congress\u00a0effectively removed Premier Li Keqiang from senior leadership. Li, the nation\u2019s No. 2 official, is a proponent of market-oriented reforms, which are in contrast to Xi\u2019s moves to expand state control over the economy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The weeklong meeting, as it wrapped up Saturday, also wrote Xi\u2019s major policy initiatives on the economy and the military into the party\u2019s constitution, as well as his push to rebuild and strengthen the party\u2019s position by declaring it absolutely central to China\u2019s development and future.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Analysts were watching for signs of any weakening of or challenge to Xi\u2019s position, but none was apparent. The removal of Li, while not unexpected, signaled Xi\u2019s continuing tight hold on power in the world\u2019s second-largest economy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThe congress calls on all party members to acquire a deep understanding of the decisive significance of establishing comrade Xi Jinping\u2019s core position on the party Central Committee and in the party as a whole and establishing the guiding role of Xi Jinping Thought,\u201d said a resolution on the constitution approved at Saturday\u2019s closing session.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cXi Jinping Thought\u201d refers to his ideology, which was enshrined in the party charter at the previous congress in 2017.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In brief closing remarks, Xi said the revision to the constitution \u201csets out clear requirements for upholding and strengthening the party\u2019s overall leadership.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Li was among four of the seven members of the party\u2019s all-powerful Politburo Standing Committee who were missing from its new 205-member Central Committee, which was formally elected at the closing session.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
That means they won\u2019t be reappointed to the Standing Committee in\u00a0a leadership shuffle\u00a0that will be unveiled Sunday. Xi is widely expected to retain the top spot, getting a third term as general secretary.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The three others who were dropped were Shanghai party chief Han Zheng, party advisory body head Wang Yang, and Li Zhanshu, a longtime Xi ally and the head of the largely ceremonial legislature.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Li Keqiang will remain as premier for about six more months until a new slate of government ministers is named.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
If he had stayed on the Standing Committee, it would have indicated some possible pushback within the leadership against Xi, particularly on economic policy. Li had already been largely sidelined, though, as Xi has taken control of most aspects of government.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The more than 2,300 delegates to the party congress \u2014 wearing blue surgical masks under China\u2019s\u00a0strict \u201czero-COVID\u201d policy\u00a0\u2014 met in the Great Hall of the People in central Beijing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Most media, including all foreign journalists, were not allowed into the first part of the meeting when the voting took place.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Former Chinese President Hu Jintao, Xi\u2019s predecessor as party leader, was helped off the stage a little more than two hours into the 3.5-hour meeting without explanation, sparking speculation about his health.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Hu, 79, spoke briefly with Xi, whom he had been sitting next to in the front row, before walking off with an assistant holding him by the arm. Jiang Zemin, 96, who was president before Hu, did not appear at this congress.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Only 11 women were among the 205 people named to the Central Committee, or about 5% of the total. Members of minority groups made up 4%. Those percentages were roughly the same as in the last Central Committee.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
At least one committee member, Wang Junzheng, the Communist Party leader in Tibet, has been sanctioned by the U.S. for human rights abuses.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Police were stationed along major roads, with bright-red-clad neighborhood watch workers at regular intervals in between, to keep an eye out for any potential disruptions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
An individual caught authorities by surprise last week by\u00a0unfurling banners\u00a0from an overpass in Beijing that called for Xi\u2019s removal and attacked his government\u2019s tough pandemic restrictions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
A report\u00a0read by Xi at the opening session of the congress a week ago showed a determination\u00a0to stay on the current path\u00a0in the face of domestic and\u00a0international challenges.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Xi has emerged during his first decade in power as one of China\u2019s\u00a0most powerful leaders\u00a0in modern times, rivaling Mao Zedong, who founded the communist state in 1949 and led the country for a quarter-century.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
A third five-year term as party leader would break an unofficial two-term limit that was instituted to try to prevent the excesses of Mao\u2019s one-person rule, notably the tumultuous 1966-76 Cultural Revolution, under which Xi suffered as a youth.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Xi has put loyalists in key positions and taken personal charge of policy working groups. In contrast, factions within the party discussed ideas internally under Hu and Jiang, his two immediate predecessors, said Ho-fung Hung, a professor of political economy at Johns Hopkins University.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cRight now, you don\u2019t really see a lot of internal party debates about these different policies and there is only one voice there,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Xi has emphasized the central role of the Communist Party, expanding state control over society as well as the economy. In his remarks, he said the party, which marked its 100th anniversary last year, is still in its prime.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThe Communist Party of China is once again embarking on a new journey on which it will face new tests,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The congress concluded by playing the communist anthem, \u201cThe Internationale.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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