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(CNN Spanish) --
The Communist Party of China (PCCh) began its 20th Congress on Sunday, October 16, in which the party's general secretary and country's president, Xi Jinping, is expected to be confirmed for a third term. .
Xi has already spoken for two hours at the opening of the Congress, a momentous event for China's politics that takes place every five years and will continue until Saturday.
ANALYSIS |
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But how exactly does the Communist Party of China function and why is this 20th Congress important?
Basic data
The CCP was founded on July 1, 1921, and it turned a century last year.
The forces of Mao Zedong, the historical leader of the PCCh, won the Chinese civil war against the forces of Chiang Kai-Shek's National Party (Kuomintang) and founded the People's Republic of China in 1949, in which the PCCh is the only legal party.
It currently has 96,700,000 members.
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The position of general secretary of the CCP is the most powerful in the country, and since 1993 whoever occupies it also becomes the president of China.
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The general secretary is also one of the seven members of the Politburo Standing Committee, the most powerful body within the PCCh, in charge of setting policies and appointing government officials.
The Politburo is made up of 25 people, including the Standing Committee.
Politburo members, including the general secretary, are in turn elected by the 204-member CPC Central Committee, in accordance with the party's constitution.
Finally, 2,296 delegates attended this 20th Congress, representing the almost 97 million members of the PPCh.
Currently, the custom is for CCP general secretaries to serve for two consecutive five-year terms, then pass the baton to a carefully chosen successor.
But it was not always like this.
The leaders of the Communist Party of China
Mao was Chairman of the CCP from 1943 until his death in 1976. Despite not holding any other official government positions since 1959, Mao was the undisputed leader of the country until the end.
He was succeeded by Hua Guofeng, who held the post from 1976 to 1981.
The CCP chairmanship was abolished in 1982 to prevent the accumulation of power that Mao had achieved in the past, and replaced by the position of general secretary.
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Hu Yaobang was then president for a year, and then general secretary until 1987. Zhao Ziyang replaced him and continued until 1989.
With the leadership of Jiang Zemin, the tradition of the general secretaries of the party and, at the same time, presidents of China would be inaugurated: he acceded to the secretariat in 1989 and to the presidency in 1993.
Hu Jintao was secretary general from 2002 to 2012, and president from 2003 to 2013.
And Xi Jinping acceded to the secretariat in 2012 and to the presidency in 2013.
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What is the Congress of the Communist Party of China?
The CPC National Congress is a conclave that takes place once every five years to appoint new leaders, discuss changes to the party's constitution, and design a political agenda for the country.
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The week-long meeting is about the Communist Party, the main source of power in China, and will ultimately guide who fills government posts.
However, it is different from a state government meeting.
For example, while Xi is expected to be named the party's general secretary after the Congress, he will not be confirmed for a third term as China's head of state or president until an annual meeting of the official legislature in March.
How is leadership chosen?
Although voting takes place at the Party Congress, this is generally considered a formality, not a true electoral process.
Instead, real decisions are believed to be made during an opaque process involving top leaders that begins long before Congress.
During the Congress, delegates will vote for a new Central Committee, the party's main governing body of about 200 full members and about 200 alternates, which meets regularly and is responsible for formally selecting Politburo members.
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Immediately after the conclusion of the Congress, the newly formed 20th Central Committee meets for its first plenary session, where they select the Politburo and its Standing Committee.
Why is this Congress different from previous ones?
For more than two decades, a new Secretary General has been appointed at every two Congresses.
What has Xi Jinping done in his nearly ten years as China's leader?
But since the last Congress in 2017, Xi has signaled plans to maintain firm control over all aspects of what is seen as a trifecta of power in China: control over the party, the state and the military.
For one thing, at the last Congress, he broke with tradition and did not elevate a potential successor to the Standing Committee.
Then, months later, China's (little de facto power) rubber stamp legislature removed term limits for China's president.
This was widely seen as allowing Xi to continue to a third term as head of state, while also retaining control of the party, where the real power lies.
With information from Simone McCarthy, Laura He and Germán Padinger.
Communist Party of China
