Xi power play in focus as parliament opens

BEIJING — China’s rubber-stamp parliament kicked off its most significant meeting in a generation yesterday, preparing to offer Xi Jinping a lifetime mandate to mould the Asian giant into a global superpower.

Thousands of Chinese legislators gathered in the imposing Great Hall of the People in a session that will make Xi the most powerful leader since Mao Zedong, concentrating the growing might of the military, economy and state in the hands of one man.

As Xi looked on from a stage dominated by mostly male party leaders in dark suits, Premier Li Keqiang delivered a report warning that the country is fighting "three critical battles" against financial risks, poverty and pollution.

The government set an economic growth target of around 6.5 percent for 2018, in line with expectations but lower than the 6.9 percent GDP increase in 2017.

It announced an 8.1 percent increase for the defense budget to 1.11 trillion yuan ($175 billion) this year, giving the world's largest armed forces a boost after spending growth slowed in the previous two years.

The report also warned Taiwan that China "will never tolerate any separatist schemes" amid tensions between the mainland and the self-ruled island.

But the spotlight was squarely on the party's most powerful leader in more than four decades, with legislators due to greenlight major constitutional amendments that will further cement Xi's authority.

The changes drafted by the Communist Party will remove the two-term limit for the presidency, inscribe Xi's name in the state constitution and create a new national anti-corruption agency.

This would allow the 64-year-old leader to stay on as party chief, head of the military and president beyond 2023, when his second term is due to end.

"I support Xi Jinping. I support the constitution change," Zhou Feng, a delegate from Shanghai, told AFP.