China's powerful Central Committee plans to write the core doctrine of President Xi Jinping into the nation's constitution — a rare move that will further bolster the status of the leader.
The committee on Friday said that achievements, principles and policies adopted at the 19th National Congress of the Communist Party of China should be incorporated in an upcoming constitutional revision, the official Xinhua News Agency reported the same day. The announcement came after the second plenary session, which ran over two days.
China's constitution was first adopted in 1982 and has not been amended since 2004. Speculation has swirled that Xi might seek to stay in office beyond 2022 after he unveiled a new leadership line-up in October that didn't include a clear potential heir. Under the current national constitution, the president can only serve two five-year terms. There are no limits on Xi's two other key titles: Head of the party and military chief.
The president's full doctrine, known formally as "Xi Jinping Thought on socialism with Chinese characteristics for a new era," is designed to retune almost every aspect of China's economy and society to become a global economic and military power by 2050. Rather than solely pursue economic growth as previous regimes have, it seeks to advance supply-side reform while playing a bigger role in international affairs.
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