The 20th Third Plenum of the Chinese Communist Party is underway at the Jingxi Guesthouse in Beijing. Official media has for the first time bestowed the title of “reformer” on CCP leader Xi Jinping. Political analyst Wang Juntao stated that Xi’s “reform” contains three centralizing “plans,” including a great leap forward economically, establishing a centrally controlled economic system, and a large-scale political purge, none of which actually benefit the common people.
The 20th Third Plenum kicked off yesterday morning, with Xi Jinping presenting a work report focusing on the agenda of “further deepening reform and advancing China’s modernization.” As usual, official media did not report on the ongoing meeting’s content.
Xinhua News Agency published a lengthy article and documentary praising Xi Jinping yesterday, labeling him as a “reformer” and comparing him to the “outstanding reformist following Deng Xiaoping.” This new era of reforms is being termed “Xi-style reform.”
Hong Kong-based newspaper “Ming Pao” noted that this is the first time official media has referred to Xi Jinping as a reformer. However, searches by the Epoch Times reporters found that on the day after the closure of the two sessions in March 2024, Xinhua’s English website published an article praising Xi Jinping as a reformer, following in Deng Xiaoping’s footsteps. Yet, there was no such article on its Chinese website at that time.
In December 2018, Xinhua also published an article praising the “Xi-style reform,” with the content similar to yesterday’s article, but at that time only referred to Xi as the “leading figure of the modern reform era.”
Political commentator Li Lin told the Epoch Times that this official designation of Xi Jinping as a reformer is a planned maneuver. However, within the CCP, there is significant controversy surrounding this title for Xi, indicating a regression in Chinese politics to the Mao era, and only now formally presenting this title at the 20th Third Plenum.
Li Lin believes that given the extent of power Xi Jinping wields, there was no need to pursue such an empty title. The decision to take on this name is likely a move to silence dissent within the party, as dissatisfaction among CCP members has reached a considerable threshold. This action demonstrates that the CCP is currently facing a severe crisis.
Chairman of China Democracy Party National Committee and political scientist based in the United States, Wang Juntao, stated that the official reference to Xi Jinping’s so-called “reform” entails three “plans”:
Firstly, Xi Jinping aims to achieve another economic great leap forward, with the Third Plenum addressing China’s unique path to modernization, focusing on industrial policies to drive technological breakthroughs.
Secondly, in terms of economic systems, Xi plans to establish a unified market structure across the nation, allowing for a centrally-directed collective economic system to extract resources, pushing for breakthroughs and fostering new qualitative productive forces under the guise of anti-corruption measures and reining in regional interests.
“The revival of collective economy does not mean a return to the people’s communes since the communes were a blend of politics and economics. Xi actually wants to wrest control of the economy from local governments and bring it directly under the party’s leadership, under his direct control.”
Thirdly, to ensure the implementation of the aforementioned plans, Xi Jinping intends to launch a large-scale political movement, involving a sweeping political purge to remove officials who dissent or fail to grasp his vision, aiming to replace them with loyalists.
The CCP emphasizes deepening reform while reinforcing the party’s overall leadership. Wang Juntao explained that bolstering the party’s leadership equates to strengthening Xi’s leadership. Within the context of the CCP, saying that reform must strengthen party leadership is not contradictory. Previously, government played a leading role, but Xi now seeks to directly oversee the economy, extract resources, and build a group of state-owned enterprises capable of seizing market opportunities in global industrial chains, like Ningde Times and Huawei, a mix of private and state-owned enterprises.
However, the aforementioned plans pursued by the CCP dictatorship do not benefit the common people. Wang Juntao expressed, “Even if new energy vehicles account for sixty percent of the world, what does it matter? In reality, the livelihood of the common people is withering away, as all the money is being funneled into so-called new qualitative productive forces.”
He further pointed out that former Chinese Premier Li Keqiang had always emphasized social welfare and job protection, not for international society or the Chinese people to hear, but for Xi Jinping to consider. This is because Xi Jinping is focused on achieving breakthroughs and fostering new qualitative productive forces, neglecting the welfare and employment of the people.
Wang Juntao believes that Xi Jinping’s ambitious plans will not come to fruition in time, as the crisis facing the CCP is deep-rooted, and no amount of turmoil can salvage it.