[Correspondent Diary] Key Keywords of China's 6th Plenary Session

Words to Watch: 'History Resolution, Common Prosperity, Democracy'
Xi Jinping Likely to Emphasize Superiority of Chinese Political System, Establishing Foundation for Long-Term Rule

[Asia Economy Beijing=Special Correspondent Jo Young-shin] The '6th Plenary Session of the 19th Central Committee of the Communist Party of China (hereafter 6th Plenary Session)'?which will serve as the foundation for Xi Jinping's long-term rule?is being held in Beijing for four days from the 8th to the 11th.

The Central Committee of the Communist Party of China holds a total of seven plenary sessions between the Party Congresses, which occur every five years. Plenary sessions are usually held once a year, and the 6th Plenary Session refers to the sixth plenary meeting of the 19th Central Committee. Including Chairman Xi and the Party leadership, government department heads (ministers), governors of each province, and senior generals, the number of attendees reaches about 400, making it a major political event within China.

Chinese Communist Party History Exhibition Hall

Typically, the 1st and 2nd plenary sessions elect the leadership; the 3rd plenary session decides major policies such as economic matters; the 4th plenary session determines Party policy directions; the 5th plenary session deals with the five-year economic development plan. The final 6th and 7th plenary sessions focus on ideological consolidation and discuss preparations and schedules for the next Party Congress. At the 5th Plenary Session held last October, the 'dual circulation development strategy' to strengthen the domestic market was decided and announced.

◇ Historical Resolution for Xi Jinping’s Long-term Rule = The Communist Party’s official newspaper, People's Daily, and the state-run Xinhua News Agency announced the schedule for the 6th Plenary Session on the 19th of last month, indicating that a 'resolution on the major achievements and historical experience of the Party’s 100 years of struggle' would be deliberated.

Accordingly, it is widely expected that the Party will announce its third historical resolution after this meeting. When Xi Jinping began his term in 2012, he simultaneously took control of the Party General Secretary, State President, and Chairman of the Central Military Commission?consolidating the Party, government, and military powers. In March 2018, the National People's Congress removed the constitutional clause limiting the State President to three terms, paving the way for Xi’s long-term rule. It is highly likely that the justification for Xi’s extended tenure and the theory supporting it will be included in the historical resolution.

◇ Xi Jinping Joins the Ranks of Mao Zedong and Deng Xiaoping = Since the founding of the People’s Republic of China, there have been only two historical resolutions. The Communist Party adopted a resolution on 'several issues of past history (from the Party’s founding to the Anti-Japanese War)' at the 6th Plenary Session of the 6th Central Committee in 1945, and a resolution on 'several issues of past history since the founding of the country (errors of the Cultural Revolution)' at the 6th Plenary Session of the 11th Central Committee in 1981.

The 1945 resolution marked the beginning of the Mao Zedong era, and the 1981 resolution symbolized the start of the Deng Xiaoping era. If a historical resolution is adopted at this 6th Plenary Session, General Secretary Xi will be recognized as a leader on par with Mao Zedong and Deng Xiaoping. This would place him among the 'three great leaders' in the 100-year history of the Communist Party of China.

The Chinese Communist Party History Exhibition Hall, which was opened to the public in July, already divides the Party’s history into three major stages. The first stage is the 'Mao Zedong era,' the second stage is the 'Deng Xiaoping (Jiang Zemin and Hu Jintao) era,' and the third stage is labeled the 'Xi Jinping era.'

Hong Kong media Ming Pao, citing sources in Beijing, analyzed that the new historical resolution will consolidate Xi Jinping’s achievements since taking power and pave the way for his third term at the 20th Party Congress scheduled for around October next year.

[Image source=Yonhap News]

◇ Historical Resolution, Common Prosperity, and Democracy = Alongside the historical resolution, 'common prosperity' and 'democracy' are key keywords to watch. Xi Jinping mentioned the term common prosperity at the 10th Central Financial and Economic Affairs Commission meeting held on August 17. Common prosperity means 'everyone eating and living well together.' It carries the meaning of redistribution and is a fundamental theory of socialism.

Common prosperity was hinted at during last year’s 5th Plenary Session. The Chinese leadership presented keywords such as the 'dual circulation policy (domestic demand-driven economic growth),' 'economic growth rate above 6%,' 'strengthening antitrust laws,' 'Xiaokang (moderately prosperous) society declaration,' and 'socialist modernization power.' All these keywords ultimately lead to common prosperity. China has grown through reform and opening up but has never abandoned the socialist fundamental ideal of common prosperity. Reform and opening-up policies have been pursued to build a society of common prosperity.

The word democracy also deserves attention. Although it has not been highlighted much before, democracy has consistently appeared in Xi Jinping’s major speeches. At the National People’s Congress (NPC) work conference held last month, Xi stated in his keynote speech that 'democracy' is not the exclusive privilege of a few countries but the right of all peoples. Xi criticized Western-style democracy elections by saying, "True democracy is not treating people well only when seeking votes and ignoring them after elections."

Xi mentioned that China has grown through process democracy, result democracy, procedural democracy, substantive democracy, direct democracy, indirect democracy, and people’s democracy, emphasizing that the most practical and useful democracy is Chinese socialist democracy. At the time, this was interpreted as a rebuttal to Western criticism of the Communist Party of China’s one-party dictatorship.

However, the word democracy continues to appear frequently in Xi’s other speeches. It is expected that the 6th Plenary Session will establish definitions of socialism with Chinese characteristics and people’s democracy, asserting the superiority of China’s political system. Additionally, the session may present a historical definition of the Taiwan issue and the Chinese leadership’s stance on future Taiwan independence movements.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.