'Long live the great, glorious and correct Chinese Communist Party,' blared one of the bright red banners adorning the hall. Participants navigated a string of security checks before entering the hall, where a giant hammer-and-sickle emblem hung over the stage on which top leaders are due to be seated. Heavy security -Ī heavy police presence was in place around Beijing early Sunday as authorities prepared for the Congress. In the highly choreographed, mostly closed-door conclave this week, the delegates will pick members of the party's roughly 200-member Central Committee, which in turn selects the 25-person Politburo and its all-powerful Standing Committee - the country's highest leadership body. If picked as party leader for another five-year term as expected, he is almost certain to be elected president at the annual meeting of China's National People's Congress in March. Xi and the party's other top brass are likely to be unveiled on October 23, the day after the Congress closes.

Should everything go to plan for Xi, the 69-year-old will be endorsed as the party's general secretary after the week-long meeting ends, cementing his position as China's most powerful leader since Mao Zedong. 'Caution, rather than dramatic change, is more prudent.' Chan, a Xi biographer and professor based in Canada. 'This is a very turbulent time with the Covid crisis, economic downturn and tense international situation, especially with the US,' said Alfred L.

Gather proxy elite