How Xi Jinping wants to secure his own power and that of the Communist Party

Beijing, Munich In fact, shortly before the important meeting of the Central Committee of the Communist Party this week, everything should go smoothly in China. It is the last important meeting before the big party conference in 2022, at which state and party leader Xi Jinping wants to confirm a third term of office. For the sixth plenary – the sixth meeting of the Central Committee between the major party congresses that take place every five years – everything should be perfect. But shortly before, of all things, a message from the Ministry of Economic Affairs showed how nervous the population of China is in large parts.

Many Chinese responded by panicking hamster purchases when officials made a similar recommendation to the population every year to replenish their supplies before winter. Because of the rising number of Covid cases, some feared an impending hard lockdown similar to that in central China’s Wuhan in the spring of last year, when residents were not even allowed to leave their homes to go to the supermarket.