China Focus: New CPC leadership for new era
BEIJING -- The Communist Party of China (CPC) unveiled a new leadership line-up Wednesday to lead the world’s most populous nation toward a great modern socialist country. Xi Jinping was again elected general secretary of the CPC Central Committee, leading its seven-seat Political Bureau Standing Committee. The other six members of the top leadership are Li Keqiang, Li Zhanshu, Wang Yang, Wang Huning, Zhao Leji and Han Zheng. They were elected at the first plenum of the 19th CPC Central Committee following the 19th CPC National Congress, a new historic starting point for the Party to realize its ambitious blueprint for the nation’s great revival. During the twice-a-decade congress which concluded Tuesday, the CPC declared a “new era” of socialism with Chinese characteristics. It enshrined Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era into the CPC Constitution as a new component of the Party’s action guide. Xi was elected general secretary of the CPC Central Committee for the first time at the first plenum of the 18th CPC Central Committee in late 2012. At a key plenum of the CPC Central Committee in 2016, Xi’s status as the Party’s core was endorsed. Before him, Mao Zedong, Deng Xiaoping and Jiang Zemin had been given the core status. The new CPC leaders who took the stage Wednesday are the helmsmen leading the Chinese toward the country’s new era goals of basically realizing socialist modernization by 2035 and building a great modern socialist country by the middle of this century. “The leadership reshuffle of the CPC, the world’s biggest political party, is an answer to the needs of the Party and the nation for the development of their causes,” said Yang Fengcheng, professor at Renmin University of China and a researcher on CPC history.
“The new CPC leaders are good at learning and bold in practice,” said Yang, who is also chief editor of the book “Keys to the Success of the Communist Party of China.” For the first time, all Standing Committee members of the Political Bureau were born after the founding of the People’s Republic of China in 1949. They began their political careers around the time of the launch of reform and opening up in 1978, which imprinted them with the mark of the era when China’s economy began to take off, following a decade of turmoil during the Cultural Revolution (1966-1976).
As a staunch reformist, Xi has launched more than 1,500 reform measures over the past five years -- unprecedented in their coverage and depth. The other six Standing Committee members have also been active practitioners of reform and opening up policies. Either at the central government or the local level, all members have driven an array of major reforms, explored theories, and solved deep-rooted problems with open minds, foresight and innovative thinking.
The new leaders are widely seen as having firm ideals and convictions, strong loyalty to the Party and deep love for the country. All of them have received higher education and demonstrated in-depth understanding of philosophy and strategic thinking, with a relatively high level of theoretical thinking. Many have published academic papers, or even books, during their careers. The seven leaders have accumulated rich experience in practice. They are viewed as having a good sense of the times and caring about the people. Xi, for example, started his political career 44 years ago. Over the past five years, he has spent 151 days on 50 local inspection tours around the country. Other leaders also have extensive experience working at the grassroots level and have been promoted to senior posts due to their excellent performance and good reputations. Most of the seven leaders have worked in both well-off coastal areas in the east and less-developed central and western regions.
(Xinhua)