DrChinese writer Hu Minzi wrote a poem in the 20th century party conference Written by the Communist Party. “More than a billion people are waiting for the wind,” she says. Government officials are waiting, businessmen and ordinary people are waiting, too. We have no idea if the wind will come from the east or west. Whether the wind will blow forward or backward. “
Whether the wind is blowing forward or backward can already be seen on Sunday morning. Then it will be Xi Jinping As the Party General Secretary of the Great Hall of the People, he presented his work report to nearly 2,300 delegates. One can expect from him basic guidelines for the next five years. At the party’s last congress, his speech lasted three hours and 23 minutes. In it, Xi announced the beginning of a “new era” and declared that China would “get closer to the center of (the world)”. Those were his ambitions in domestic and foreign policy.
This time, residents are primarily concerned with one question: When will the strict zero-Covid policy be relaxed? Even a few days ago, everyone was saying that this would be the case immediately after the party convention ended. The basic belief was that the strategy was only maintained to save Xi Jinping’s face before the Party Congress and because Party cadres across the country wanted to show their loyalty. But in the past few days, the party has dashed hopes. A senior government adviser on state television said there was no timetable for opening.
Foreign policy experience is missing
In Xi’s speech, business representatives will search between the lines for clues as to whether the head of state and party leader intends to continue nurturing the private sector and how he intends to implement his concept of wealth redistribution. Hints can also be expected about Taiwan’s future policy, relations with America, and the role of the military. Many of the sections will be identical to the previous work report. It gets fun when it’s not.
The political climax comes on the seventh and final day of the assembly week, when the new Politburo Standing Committee, China’s most powerful body, presents itself to the public. Xi Jinping is likely to be the first to take over the podium, assuring that he will remain in office for at least five more years. He eagerly awaits who will replace the retired members due to old age. From this a person might be able to tell if Xi was able to pressure his closest followers or had to make concessions when filling out individual posts. The order in which the men take the stage will tell who Li Keqiang He could succeed him as prime minister in March. The head of government is traditionally responsible for economic policy, which is why business representatives hope for a candidate close to the private sector. However, in the past, Xi also seized the power of economic policy and sidelined Premier Li.
