China’s worst-kept secret is out: Xi Jinping will begin a third term as president after a highly choreographed 20th National Congress of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) rubber-stamped his control over the world’s most populous country. What’s more, Xi managed to pack the new 24-person politburo and its powerful seven-person Standing Committee with loyalists—meaning he will face few dissenting views and no competition for at least the next five years.
The 20th Party Congress meeting was arguably the most consequential gathering in the world this year, so how do we decipher what it means—for China and the world? Watch FP editor in chief Ravi Agrawal’s interview with FP’s James Palmer; Beijing-based reporter Melinda Liu; and Evan S. Medeiros, a professor and chair of Asian studies at Georgetown University, for answers and insights.
Video clips from this event
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Evan Medeiros, former U.S. President Barack Obama’s top advisor on China, explains that following China’s 20th Party Congress, the country has entered a new era of maximum Xi Jinping.
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Melinda Liu reports from Beijing on whether the Chinese people are happy with Xi Jinping’s third term as China’s president.
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FP deputy editor James Palmer explains what we know about the newly announced Chinese Communist Party Standing Committee—the seven most powerful men in Chinese politics.
