The National People’s Congress, which begins later this week, will be the symbolic culmination of Xi Jinping’s epic power grab.
China’s leader has put the Communist Party at the core of himself and no one has the remotest chance to challenge him.
Its most significant representation will be in the personnel changes announced at the annual political meeting, a rubber-stamp session of about 3,000 delegates.
Take the role of the prime minister, the man managing the world’s second-largest economy and, in theory, second only to Mr Xi in the power structure.
Outgoing Prime Minister Li Keqiang will take center stage on the first day. Then, finally, a new prime minister, almost certainly Li Qiang, will seize the limelight.
They are two very different people, especially in terms of their loyalty to Mr. XI, who started a stir a decade ago with his crackdown on corruption, which has decimated the ranks of rival party factions. was
At last October’s Communist Party Congress, new appointments to the seven-member Politburo Standing Committee meant that the country’s most powerful group now had only XI loyalists.
In this meeting, the heads of various departments and ministerial positions will be changed. All of them are expected to fall into the same camp.
That doesn’t mean they aren’t qualified, but would they be willing to give fearless and candid advice to the man who put them there?
“On the one hand it could mean that Xi can work with his new leadership but on the other hand, he risks being stuck in an echo chamber,” one veteran businessman told JEE News.
So, what do these appointments mean for China’s direction?
If Li Qiang is indeed the new prime minister, sitting there on the last day of the NPC, taking screened questions at the annual press event, that would be a great addition to him.
As Shanghai party boss, he oversaw a disastrous two-month lockdown of China’s financial capital last year.
For this reason, many were surprised when he was promoted to become number two in the Communist Party’s pecking order.
