Xi Jinping’s China on the way to the 20th Party Congress, Part 1 with Johnny Erling

At the end of 2022, the Chinese Communist Party will hold its 20th Party Congress. In all likelihood, Xi Jinping will be re-elected as General Secretary for another five years and, thus, be able to extend his political agenda indefinitely. Xi has discarded the decades-old succession mechanism at the top of the CCP and has concentrated more power on himself than any Chinese leader since the Mao era.

But what does Xi want to use his power for? How far-reaching is it? And what does Xi's prospective direction portend for China's political and economic role in the world?

The political signals of the forthcoming 12 months will provide plenty of insight into the party’s biggest self-perceived challenges and tasks, and what tools it plans to use to respond to them. MERICS will closely follow the developments and analyze their significance for Germany and Europe.

Johnny Erling is a Senior Fellow at MERICS and analyzes Chinese Communist Party policy. Erling worked as a China correspondent for three decades, including for WELT, and is the author of numerous books.

Moderation: Bernhard Bartsch, Director External Relations, MERICS