19th congress of Communist Party of China kicks off; Pres. Xi stresses national rejuvenation

중국 당대회 오늘 시작... 시진핑 "2050년대까지 현대사회주의국가 건설"
China's biggest political event,... the Communist Party Congress,... is well underway.
And we could expect some changes to the country's governing documents... and leadership from the event.
Many anticipate President Xi Jinping will tighten his grip on power by naming allies to top posts... as he begins a second five-year term.
Oh Jung-hee reports.

The 19th Congress of the Communist Party of China kicked off in Beijing on Wednesday.
It's China's biggest political event, held only twice a decade.
More than 23-hundred delegates are in Beijing from around the country to elect a new Politburo -- the group that effectively rules the country -- to make amendments to the constitution... and to lay out plans for national development.
Chinese President Xi Jinping is starting his second term.
He's alread been declared the 'core leader' of the Party, but now his political stature is to be put on par with that of the Party's founder Mao Zedong and his successor Deng Xiaoping.

Opening the week-long congress, President Xi said that China has made some historic achievements over past five years,... lifting over six million people out of poverty.
He stressed... that now the Party's task is to realize the "Chinese Dream" of national rejuvenation -- developing "socialism with Chinese characteristics" for a new era... and thereby completing the construction of a modern socialist state by the 2050s.
To do that, he emphasized,... centralized and unified leadership is the key.

(Chinese)
"China is still and will long remain in the primary stage of socialism, and China's international status as the world's largest developing country has not changed. The whole Party should work to unite people of all ethnic groups across the country to achieve economic development as the main goal... and make China a powerful socialist state."

President Xi also emphasized that his fight against corruption will continue... by putting power into what he called a stronger institutional cage... through legislation and measures like a reporting platform.

Much attention is on who will rise as allies of President Xi.
Five new members will be appointed to the Politburo Standing Committee,... which is China's top decision-making body.

For the opening of the Congress,... North Korea's ruling Workers' Party sent a message of congratulations.
Pyongyang's state media reported that warm greetings and hope for a 'satisfactory success' were delivered to the Chinese Party and the people.
But Pyongyang's message for this Congress was only three sentences long -- much shorter than the one sent to Beijing for the previous congress in 2012... which was over 800 characters long.
Also, while the previous messages have always emphasized 'securing and advancing the two countries' long friendship,'... there was no mention of that this year,....
which reflects the cooler relations between the two over Pyongyang's continued provocations and Beijing's sanctions on the regime..
Oh Jung-hee, Arirang News.

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