China’s president sets out vision for future

CHINESE PRESIDENT Xi Jinping has urged a reinvigorated Communist Party to take on a more forceful role in society and economic development, to better address “grim” challenges facing the country, as he opened the national congress.

Speaking in the massive Great Hall of the People near Tiananmen Square in Beijing, Xi laid out his vision of a ruling party that serves as the vanguard on everything from defending national security to providing moral guidance.

He struck a nationalistic line throughout his speech, calling for the party not only to safeguard China’s sovereignty but also to revitalise Chinese culture, oppose “erroneous” ideology and promote religion that is “Chinese in orientation”.

“The whole party must be prepared to make ever more difficult and harder efforts,” Mr Xi told hundreds of delegates, mostly men in dark suits who applauded regularly as they read copies of his prepared remarks.

“To achieve great dreams there must be a great struggle.”

Hailing the start of a “new era,” Mr Xi outlined a vision in which the party would lead China on the road to becoming a “great modern socialist country” by the middle of the century.

Said Dali Yang, an expert on Chinese politics at the University of Chicago: “China would not only be a modern, socialist country but one that stands tall among the nations. This message he delivered with vigour.”

Mr Xi wields undisputed power and is expected to get a second five-year term as party leader at the gathering.

The Communist Party meetings will largely be behind closed doors and are accompanied by extraordinary security measures.

Mr Xi, in his three-and-a-halfhour address, said “prospects are bright but the challenges are grim”, a rare admission of economic problems.