The 19th National Congress of the Chinese Communist Party was held at the Great Hall of the People, Beijing, between 18 and 24 October 2017. 2,280 delegates represented the party's estimated 89 million members.
Preparations for the 19th National Congress began in 2016 and ended with a plenary session of the Central Committee a few days prior to the Congress. In 2016, local and provincial party organizations began electing delegates to the congress as well as receiving and amending party documents. During the congress, a new guiding ideology, labeled Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era, was written into the party's constitution. It marked the first time since Mao Zedong Thought that a living party leader had enshrined into the party constitution an ideology named after himself. The Congress also emphasized strengthening socialism with Chinese characteristics, Party building, socialist rule of law, and setting concrete timelines for achieving development goals, such as building a moderately prosperous society and achieving "socialist modernization." It was also noted for rallying China to play a more substantial role internationally. The congress was also notable for the consolidation of power under Xi Jinping.
The 19th National Congress endorsed the membership list of the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection and elected the 19th Central Committee, which in turn approved the members of the Politburo and its Standing Committee. Five members of the 18th Politburo Standing Committee left the body due to having reached retirement age, and five new members joined the 19th Standing Committee: Li Zhanshu, Wang Yang, Wang Huning, Zhao Leji, and Han Zheng.
Background and preparation
The drafting process of the Report of the 18th Central Committee began in mid-to-late 2016, probably before the 6th Plenary Session. Normal procedure is that the sitting Politburo appoints a drafting committee that is responsible for researching major topics and can establish investigative research teams. The Draft Report is sent to party groups, such as the provincial party organisation, to government institutions, the People's Liberation Army and select mass organisations while the drafting committee consults with leading specialists. The 6th Plenary Session of the 18th Central Committee, which sat 24–27 October 2016, in its communique stated that the 19th National Congress would be held in Beijing in the second half of 2017. The drafting process continued after the 6th Plenary Session, and by summer 2017, forums for party and non-party members in Beijing were established to review the draft report. At some point in the process, retired party elders are consulted.
The 7th Plenary Session convened on 11 October and was in session until 14 October 2017. 191 CC full members and 141 CC alternate members attended the session, with CCDI members attended in a non-voting capacity. The 7th Plenary Session laid the groundworks for the 19th National Congress, and publicised the date of its convocation. The 18th Politburo put forward a motion to the 7th Plenary Session of sending three documents to the 19th National Congress; the Report of the 18th Central Committee, Work Report of the 18th Central Commission for Discipline Inspection and amendments to the CCP constitution. Xi Jinping presented the report of the 18th Central Committee while Liu Yunshan presented the amendments to the CCP constitution to the 7th Plenary Session. The Work Report of the 18th CCDI had been presented by Wang Qishan at the 8th CCDI Plenary Session on 9 October, and sent to the 7th Plenary Session for approval.
The Draft Report of the 18th Central Committee was sent to more than 4,700 individuals for review, who represented various regions and departments. Six symposiums to hear opinions and suggestions on the draft report were organised, and Xi attended them. The 7th Plenary Session approved the documents.
Three days later, on 17 October, the preparatory meeting was convened and presided over by Xi. 2,307 of the 19th National Congress delegates attended the meeting. It elected 22 individuals to the Credential Committee, 243 members to the Presidium of the 19th National Congress and Liu Yunshan was elected as the Secretary-General of the 19th National Congress. In addition, the attendees also approved the organizational setup and tasks of the secretariat of the congress. Tuo Zhen, the Deputy Head of the Publicity Department and main spokesperson for the 19th National Congress, publicised the agenda of the 19th National Congress, which had been approved by the preparatory meeting. The agenda was:
- To hear and examine a report submitted by the 18th CCP Central Committee;
- To examine a work report of the 18th Central Commission for Discipline Inspection;
- To deliberate and adopt an amendment to the Party's Constitution;
- To elect the Party's 19th Central Committee and its 19th Central Commission for Discipline.
Delegates
The election of delegates to the 19th National Congress started on 8 November 2016 and ended in June 2017, when the 18th Central Committee had approved the quota, needed qualifications and the election procedure. The criteria of becoming a delegate became "tougher" due to the ongoing anti-corruption campaign. As set forth by the 18th central Committee, a delegate is required to "be highly qualified politically and ideologically, have good work and life styles, be competent in discussing state affairs, and have been successful in their work."
The delegates are elected from 40 electoral units. Of the 40 electoral units, 34 are divided by a defined geographical area and six units are for the central party and government. The People's Liberation Army makes up one of the six central units and is the largest in term of delegate quota. One electoral unit represents the departments directly subordinate to the Central Committee and another state-owned economy. The quote on the number of delegates can elect does not reflect population size or party size in the given region. Rather, it reflects the political importance of the given region or subject. For instance, Shanghai has historically sent the highest number of delegates to the party congresses among regional electoral units.
Delegates are elected at local congresses of local party committees. The election process is competitive up to a point, with 15% of preliminary nominees being voted off by members during the election process. For instance, of the delegates elected at local party congresses of the Jiangxi Provincial Committee nominated 90 people. The quota for the Jiangxi electoral unit was 69. In this given unit there was 30% more candidates than seats. Once nominated, the candidates are reviewed by Central Committee through the Organization Department. The remaining delegates will then have to stand for election at the provincial party congress, and the winners represented their electoral unit at the 19th National Congress.
In the election of 2016–2017 99.2% of party members participated in the election process, and increase of 1.2% since the last congress. 2,287 delegates were elected according to Xinhua News Agency in early October, an increase of 30 delegates since the 18th National Congress. However, the number was reduced to 2,280 in an announcement on 17 October. Of the delegates, 24.1% were women and 11.5% were ethnic minorities. The number of delegates who represented or were active in frontline production and manufacturing (a category which includes workers, farmers, and technicians) made up 771 delegates (33.7%, an increase of 3.2% from the 18th National Congress).
The Congress
On 18 October, Premier Li Keqiang announced the opening of the conference. At the opening session, General Secretary Xi Jinping gave a political report titled "Secure a Decisive Victory in Building a Moderately Prosperous Society in All Respects and Strive for the Great Success of Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era". Xi said the CCP had achieved "significant advances on the theoretical and cultural fronts" and "strengthened Party leadership over ideological work and explored new ground in advancing Party-related theories”; with the result being “the importance of Marxism as a guiding ideology is better appreciated". He said:
In the five years since the 18th Party Congress, we have ... strengthened the Party's leadership over ideological work and comprehensively pushed forward the innovation of the Party's theories in all respects, consolidating the leadership status of Marxism in the ideological sphere .... Today, we are closer to the goal of the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation than any other period in history, and we are more confident and able to achieve this .... Our Party must always be the vanguard of the times, the backbone of the nation, and a ruling Marxist party .... Only socialism can save China, only the reform and opening up can develop China, develop socialism, and develop Marxism .... The whole party must ... uphold Marxism, firmly consolidate the grand ideal of communism and the common ideal of socialism with Chinese characteristics, cultivate and practice core socialist values, and relentlessly strengthen the Party's dominance and discursive power in the ideological sphere .... The power of truth emanating from Chinese Marxism of the 21st century will certainly be stronger and more persuasive .... We must push forward the Sinification of Marxism and bring it in tune with the time. We can then popularize it to construct a socialist ideology with impressive cohesive power and guidance power, such that the entire population will be tightly united in their goals, values, and moral viewpoints.
He mentioned "the scientific truth of Marxism–Leninism", which he said saved China from "passivity" which resulted in a country "taking the initiative". Xi called on to "ensure our theory evolves with the times, deepening our appreciation of the objective laws" of Marxism. The Congress declared that China and the CCP entered a "new era of socialism with Chinese characteristics" at the 18th National Congress, which it said was both consistent with and significantly different from the past nearly 40 years of reform and opening up. Xi stated that it is "the question of an era to which our answer must be a systematic combination of theory and practice that addresses what kind of socialism with Chinese characteristics the new era requires us to uphold and develop, and how we should go about doing it". He added:
In answering this question, our Party has continued to uphold dialectical and historical materialism; has considered carefully the new conditions of the era and the new requirements of practice; and has adopted an entirely new perspective to deepen its understanding of the laws that underlie governance by a Communist party, the development of socialism, and the evolution of human society. It has . . . achieved major theoretical innovations, ultimately giving shape to the Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era.
Xi stated that the CCP "has continued to uphold dialectical and historical materialism", adding that "Chinese socialism’s entrance into a new era, in the history of the development of the People’s Republic of China and the history of the development of the Chinese nation, is of tremendous importance. In the history of the development of international socialism and the history of the development of human society it is of tremendous importance" and stating "if we respond to the call of our times and have the courage to uphold truth and correct errors, the Marxism of twenty first-century China will, without a doubt, emanate a more mighty, more compelling power of truth".
Xi laid out a comprehensive approach to China's developmental path. While the speech reflected an updating of some policy issues that had been on the Party's agenda, it put forward a more concrete implementation strategy. Xi stated that economic challenges must be addressed within a "five-sphere integrated of plan" that was (1) political, (2) cultural, (3) economic, (4) social, and (5) ecological. The immediate economic task Xi described was supply-side structural reform, focusing on the reduction of excess capacity, eliminating excess homebuilding surplus, reducing debt, and decreasing costs. Xi warned against complacency and described "Three Critical Battles" that required focus: de-risking, poverty alleviation, and pollution control.
The 19th National Congress re-affirmed the goal of transitioning solely state-owned enterprises towards mixed (both state and private) ownership. Xi stated the primary contradiction of China's conditions in the new era as "the contradiction between the people's ever-growing need for a better life and unbalanced and inadequate development." In this context, "unbalanced" refers to rural-urban inequalities, regional inequalities, inequalities between the rich and poor, and structural imbalances in the economy. "Inadequate" refers to household income share. Xi said:
We must recognize that the evolution of the principal contradiction facing Chinese society represents a historic shift that affects the whole landscape and that creates many new demands for the work of the Party and the country. Building on continued efforts to sustain development, we must devote great energy to addressing development’s imbalances and inadequacies... With this, we will be better placed to meet the ever-growing economic, political, cultural, social, and ecological needs of our people.