more power to the Communist Party; the government, weakened

In a few days the annual meeting of the Chinese Parliament and the country’s highest advisory body will be held. The reorganization of the government will be made official. Xi Jinping’s third term begins, which should strengthen his position. Greater centralization of decision-making power is expected.

Rome () – The plenary session of the Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Party (CPC) is taking place in Beijing, meeting to decide on the new government formation before March 4, the opening day of the “two sessions” (Lianghui ): the annual meeting of the National People’s Congress and the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference.

The meeting of the National Parliament marks the start of Xi Jinping’s third term as president, as most members of the CCP Politburo retire. The plenary is planning a review of the Party and state organs to strengthen Xi’s power.

According to mingpao, a new body affiliated to the Central Committee will be created to supervise public security, immigration, the fight against terrorism, anti-espionage and even the administration of social organizations. This restructuring means that the Ministry of Public Security and the Ministry of State Security, until now under the direction of the Council of State (the government, ndr), will be transferred to the new office: the “Central Committee of Internal Affairs”.

The move will further undermine the role of the government in favor of the Party, thereby weakening the importance of the prime minister and the State Council in the decision-making process.

The official news agency xinhua He hinted that the restructuring is being discussed in plenary, but gave no further details. Public Security Minister Wang Xiaohong will reportedly head the new body. According to analysts, the supercommittee borrows its concept and structure from the Soviet Union’s People’s Commissariat for Internal Affairs (NKVD), which under Stalin led the Great Purges and oversaw security agencies and concentration camps (gulags). .

Chen Xi, head of the CCP’s Organization Department, is believed to be in charge of the review. Chen was Xi’s classmate at Tsinghua University.

Li Qiang, a close ally of Xi, will replace Li Keqiang as prime minister. Analysts say the restructuring of the State Council will blur the lines between party and government bodies, weakening Li Keqiang’s influence to increase that of a Xi protégé.

After the 19th Party Congress in 2018, China launched a massive reform of the CCP structure and state organs. The National Surveillance Commission, the supreme anti-corruption body, was created to supervise officials. Some functions of the State Council were transferred to the Party, seen as a regression to the highly centralized Party-State model prior to Deng Xiaoping’s “reform and opening up”.

mingpao He stated that the scope of the change this time could be even greater than five years ago.