Policy Achievements and Exhibition Visits Over the Past 10 Years
Mobilizing Politburo Members to Emphasize "Pioneering a New Era"
[Asia Economy Beijing=Special Correspondent Kim Hyunjung] Chinese President Xi Jinping, who had not appeared publicly since returning from his Central Asia tour, made a public appearance after ten days and immediately began policy promotion. Ahead of the 20th National Congress of the Communist Party (Party Congress), where his third term will be decided, it is being evaluated that he is repeatedly showing his determination to have his term recognized as a 'new era.'
According to China's state-run Xinhua News Agency on the 28th, President Xi visited a policy exhibition held in Beijing the previous day under the theme "Pioneering a New Era" and said, "We will unite and struggle for a new victory of socialism with Chinese characteristics," adding, "We must widely disseminate the major achievements since 2012." Attending the event were all members of the Politburo Standing Committee, including Premier Li Keqiang, former NPC Standing Committee Chairman Li Zhanshu, CPPCC Chairman Wang Yang, CCP Central Secretariat Secretary Wang Huning, Central Discipline Inspection Commission Secretary Zhao Leji, Vice Premier Han Zheng, as well as 25 Politburo members in total.
The exhibition, spanning 30,000 square meters, displayed over 6,000 photos and artifacts illustrating China's scientific and technological development during Xi's tenure, poverty alleviation and COVID-19 prevention policies, national security and legal regulations, and road traffic conditions. Xinhua reported that it also showed how President Xi dealt with natural disasters, political, economic, and ideological challenges to lead the country.
The day before, plans were announced to publish a five-volume "Revival Series (復興文庫)" focusing on Xi Jinping's policy slogan, "The Great Rejuvenation of the Chinese Nation," and state media competed to feature the preface written by him on their front pages. In the preface, he wrote, "History has shown, under the strong leadership of the Communist Party, that the Chinese people have firmly held China's development and destiny in their own hands since 2012, and will continue to do so."
Local media reported that this book selectively documents materials related to China's rejuvenation since the Opium War in 1840, but Hong Kong's South China Morning Post (SCMP) analyzed it as a policy propaganda tool for Xi Jinping. They particularly noted that previous national leaders had never published separate compilations on long-term policy goals before the Party Congress. Deng Yiwen, former editor-in-chief of the CCP Central Party School's journal Study Times and currently working at the New York think tank "China Strategic Analysis," told SCMP, "The previous practice was to collect the leader's speeches and compile a series of documents upon retirement," adding, "It is very rare to put this much effort into a single policy goal."
He continued, "This is part of an effort to justify Xi Jinping's third term as the chosen one and helmsman," emphasizing, "While Mao Zedong's era was called the 'Revolutionary Era,' Deng Xiaoping's the 'Construction Era,' and Jiang Zemin and Hu Jintao's the 'Reform Era,' Xi Jinping wants to call his term a completely new era." He added, "He wants previous eras to be seen as old times, and his era as a distinct and unique period with clear characteristics."
Meanwhile, this public appearance came ten days after Xi Jinping returned to Beijing from his first overseas diplomatic tour in over two years since the COVID-19 outbreak. As he did not appear in public, rumors circulated that he was under house arrest due to a military coup. Bloomberg News explained, "Xi Jinping is trying to give the impression that he is complying with the country's zero-COVID regulations," noting that "after visiting Hong Kong in July, he also did not appear publicly for two weeks."
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