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‘Xi Jinping Thought’ – a break with China’s past?

The president’s governing principles are expected to become official Communist Party dogma this week in an attempt to define a new era for the country at home and abroad

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Xi Jinping’s thought or theory is expected to be added to the Communist Party’s constitution over the next week. Photo: Bloomberg
Jun Maiin Beijing

On the surface it seemed just like any other speech.

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The glimpse offered by the official state news agency covered familiar ground using well-worn jargon, urging cadres to sprint to the finish to achieve the “great Chinese revival”.

But the address President Xi Jinping delivered on July 26 was like no other.

The minister-level cadres summoned to Beijing to hear it behind closed doors were not allowed to take notes, according to state television. And Xinhua offered just a few paragraphs about its content, before spinning those fragments into a series of high-profile commentaries.

The secrecy surrounding the speech was a sign of its significance – Xi was setting out his agenda to set the direction for the country’s future.

Those ideas – running the gamut from macroeconomics to foreign policy and ideological control – are expected to be set in metaphorical stone over the next week as the Communist Party marshals its elite to elevate Xi in name and thought into the party’s constitution.

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