As expected, President Xi Jinping is given the mandate to lead the Communist Party of China (CPC) and China in the next five years by the CPC Congress – one of the most watched political events this year due to its implications for China and the world.

Xi secured the third leadership term on Sunday and introduced six other CPC leaders in the 7-member top governing body headed by him to the media on Oct 23.

As all are seen to be his loyalists, Xi has cemented his position as China’s most powerful leader since Mao Zedong, according to many commentaries.

Li Qiang, Zhao Leji, Wang Huning, Cai Qi, Ding Xuexiang and Li Xi are CPC leaders with strong background. Like 69-year old Xi, they have spent decades climbing up the political ladder from the bottom after proving their capability and leadership strength in CPC-style one-party democratic system.

At the media meet on Oct 23, Xi promised to work hard relentlessly to serve the Chinese people in a short speech repeating the key points of his address at the opening of the CPC Congress over a week ago on Oct 16.

The smooth re-election of Xi as CPC’s general secretary may be a disappointing news for anti-Beijing politicians who wish to contain China, but it is a fantastic development for Chinese nationals who want a strong trusted statesman to continue to lead.

Russian President Vladimir Putin was sharp to point out Xi’s political achievements, when he said in his congratulatory message to Xi: “The results of the Party Congress fully confirm your high political authority, as well as the unity of the party you lead.”

Putin expressed confidence China will succeed in implementing its large-scale socioeconomic programs. It will also strengthen the country’s position in the international arena, he added.

From news flow out of the Congress, CCTV-4 China’s interviews with various leaders, commentaries by China and foreign media, as well as prominent YouTubers, it is clear that China is heading in the right direction – not just for its own people, but for world peace.

With strong support from CPC’s 2300 delegates at the Congress, Xi has built up his standing that cannot be shaken and undermined by lies and rumors and one-man demonstration.

Based on his track record, the steadfast leader has won the trust and confidence of his people. His party amended CPC rules to allow him to run for a third term, breaking the two-term tradition set by Deng Xiaoping after the long rule of Mao Zedong.

In Xi’s policy speech at the opening of the week-long gathering on Oct 16, he listed the great achievements of China under his rule. But most important of all, he also laid out China’s key plans and strategies for the next five years and longer.

Among the achievements in the past 5-10 years are successes in battling corruption, eliminating extreme poverty, containing Covid pandemic; scoring milestones in space technology and aviation, progress in almost all economic sectors; fulfilling objectives of the Belt and Road Initiative, and resolving Hong Kong’s political chaos.

In his quest to achieve the “Chinese Dream,” Xi has set two targets.

The first was achieved in 2021. Xi last year declared China had become a moderately well-off country on the 100-year anniversary of the CPC founding.

The second, that China would become a strong, modern socialist country, is set for 2049.

In Xi’s Oct 16 address, there was a constant emphasis on modernization and quality development going forward. He cited innovation is key to China’s modernization drive and rejuvenation.

“China should be getting stronger socially, economically, technologically, astronomically and militarily. China might overtake the US to become the world’s largest economy by 2027 or 2028. It is already the world’s largest trading nation. And by 2027, it might take over Taiwan,” Professor Datuk Dr Chin Yew Sin, Asia Pacific advisor for Global One Road One Belt Association, told this writer.

People-centric policy to continue

For the 1.4 billion Chinese nationals, what matters most is their welfare.

Street interviews conducted by CCTV-4 and other media show that Chinese nationals are happy that future policy will continue to be people-centric to improve the well-being and quality of life, enrich intellectual and cultural life, as well as better medical facilities for the aged.

In the past 10 years, the government has eliminated extreme poverty of about 100 million people. Most of the poor have become “moderately prosperous,” alongside over 400 million people ranked as “middle class” consumers.

Xi’s phrase “This country is its people; the people are the country” on Oct 16 has touched the hearts of many people.

A lecturer from CPC Party School commented on CCTV-4: “Life of people now is very different from 10 years ago. From standing up (against humiliation from the West), Chinese have become rich, and then strong. Our country is at a stage where we can move forward confidently.”

China is now touted as “the safest place in the world” due to its low criminal rate and negligible Covid infections. A survey by the National Bureau of Statistics shows that Chinese citizens’ sense of safety reached 98.6% in 2021.

Despite this, many Chinese and foreigners hope that China will relax Covid rules for travel.

However, the lingering concern is that China’s current level of medical facilities may not be able to cope with mass virus outbreaks. Hence, a strict policy is necessary to protect its 1.4 billion population, even though this has hit businesses and sparked protests.

In fact, China is paying a price for its zero-covid policy. The IMF has lowered projection of China’s GDP growth for this year to 3.2%.

When to attack Taiwan?

Before the Congress, many had speculated that Xi would disclose his plan to retake Taiwan militarily during his new term.

Although Xi spent hardly three minutes on Taiwan in his 110-minute-long policy speech, this was chosen as prime world news by Western media on Oct 16.

Xi repeated his earlier position that Beijing would strive to pursue peaceful reunification with Taiwan. But he also vowed Beijing “will never commit to abandoning the use of force” on the Taiwan issue.

It is a clear message to foreigners, in particular the US, not to meddle with China’s internal affairs when he said: “Resolving the Taiwan issue is a matter for the Chinese people themselves, and must be resolved by the Chinese people alone.”

And in an apparent warning to pro-independence politicians and people in Taiwan, he said: “Reunification of the motherland must be achieved and will be achieved.”

His unwavering position on Taiwan won a huge applause from the 2300 delegates listening to him attentively.

According to a Taiwan military analyst on CTI’s news talk show, the People Liberation Army (PLA) now possesses the capability to launch a takeover of Taiwan, but at the moment Xi’s focus is to strengthen quality development and Beijing is not ready to face any disastrous fallouts.

Major plans and targets

Xi’s goals and plans have not only invigorated his own people, but also have brought hope of stability and economic development to the world.

Xi in his various speeches last week emphasized the need for China to pursue the goal of becoming a stronger and self-reliant nation. To achieve this, focus will be given to innovation and quality development in all sectors of the economy, Science and technology, education, military and environment.

And to move forward fast, China needs talents. Xi said China would speed up its efforts to build large pools of talents to develop home-grown technologies.

Xi’s proclamation to elevate the PLA forces to world-class standards faster must have stirred up concern to the West and its allies, as well as Taipei.

But intensifying PLA troop training and enhancing combat preparedness is necessary as China is facing “external attempts to blackmail, contain, blockade, and exert maximum pressure on China,” Xi reasoned.

Despite his exertive tone, Xi said Beijing advocates world peace. It is against hegemony, imperialism, cold war and interference in the internal affairs of other countries.

He said China will continue to play its international role and exert influence on global governance.

When meeting the media on Oct 23, Xi said China will continue to open up its economy and provide investment opportunities for China and the world.

“Just as China cannot develop in isolation from the world, the world needs China for the development,” Xi shared, adding that China has created fast economic growth and social stability in the last 40 years of economic reform.

“The Chinese economy has great resilience and potential, its strong fundamentals will not change, and it will remain on a positive trajectory over the long run,” he declared to the media.

One such person sharing Xi’s optimism is prominent international investor Jim Rogers, who told Global Times last week:

“In the next five years, China may be the most successful country in the world… China will take over the US as the world’s largest economy in five years or 10 years.”

(Veteran writer Ho Wah Foon is a freelance journalist after retiring as editorial consultant from The Star. Prior to this, she had worked for Reuters, Chinese Forbes magazine, The Straits Times of Singapore and The Edge. The views expressed here do not represent those of Sin Chew group.)