The " Some sources claim that along the way, he suddenly had a competitor - the current Prime Minister Li Keqiang..

Zero COVID-19 policy targets Xi Jinping.

The Beijing Winter Olympics, which were personally led by the Chinese leader, were supposed to be a demonstration of China's power on the world stage, as well as an important start to Xi's victorious year on the way to re-election. It would seem that he took care of this in advance. Over the past decade, Xi Jinping has overpowered opponents and suppressed pluralism among party members, built a massive propaganda machine, and established total censorship of the media and social networks.. In addition, he became the " And most importantly, he got the opportunity to extend his powers for the third time thanks to the amendments to the PRC Constitution in 2018 by the National People's Congress. And, according to many experts, he actually received a mandate for an indefinite period.

The “great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation” strategy, which included the global Belt and Road Initiative, was a reflection of Xi’s desire to make China the undisputed world leader and his own ambitions to lead this process by concentrating power in his hands.. Not surprisingly, Xi Jinping took personal control of the " Tracking and identifying the virus through mass testing, and completely locking down major cities and towns in response to even minor infection rates, helped the Chinese authorities tame the pandemic at an early stage, but did not prevent it from recurring this spring..

And although the world is gradually learning to live with the virus, removing the previously established restrictions, Xi Jinping remains hostage to his own “zero COVID-19” policy, which even WHO Director General Ghebreyesus has now declared unviable.

But most importantly, it negatively affects the economy of the state.. As supply chains are disrupted, logistics and warehousing become more complex, ports are closed and business travel is blocked, the number of European companies wishing to exit China has doubled.. This poses challenges for the Chinese economy, especially as state power shifts from quantitative to qualitative growth with a focus on domestic market development.. Under such conditions, it will be difficult to achieve the 5.5% GDP growth declared by the party.

Analysts at Goldman Sachs cut their forecast to 4% after April numbers dropped. But if Xi Jinping is not ready to take these factors into account, then Prime Minister Li Keqiang has recently made no secret of his concern about the deteriorating economic situation in China and has raised the issue of employment at the main party meetings three times since the end of April..

Li Keqiang emerges from the shadow of "

Recently, information has appeared about the strengthening of the position of Li Keqiang, who has remained in the shadow of “number 1” for ten years.. The current prime minister is not part of Xi's inner circle. He has been linked to the Communist Youth League, a powerful organization that has produced many high-ranking Chinese party officials but lost influence under pressure from Xi Jinping.. It is believed that now it is the prime minister who plays the role of checks and balances, which helps to balance public administration in the face of a slowdown in economic growth due to a number of measures introduced by the leader of the state.. Li Keqiang's pragmatic line leaning towards years of Western-style capitalism is at odds with Xi Jinping's devotion to Mao's socialist vision. Chinese leader has repeatedly prioritized political and social issues over economic growth. An example would be last year's " According to The Wall Street Journal, it was Li Keqiang's influence that eased regulations on private technology companies, made it easier to lend to developers and homebuyers, and allowed some of them to resume work..

Bet on Putin: stumble or win.

Russia's invasion of Ukraine has brought additional complexity to China. Beijing had a unique opportunity to play an intermediary role to stop the war, but it turned out to be a biased party. To a large extent, Xi Jinping’s personal friendship with Vladimir Putin also contributed to this.. The unwillingness to condemn the Russian Federation and acknowledge the fact of its aggression against Ukraine, instead repeating Russian narratives, among which the accusation of Western states of “warmongering” because of weapons assistance, clearly shows which side Beijing is now on..

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This puts China in the position of a state under the scrutiny of Americans and Europeans as one that can help and support the Russian Federation.. The exit of Western companies from Russia not only opens up the opportunity for the Chinese to take advantageous positions in the energy, resource and other sectors, but also creates additional risks of falling under secondary sanctions..

Russia is an important supplier of energy resources, and therefore means a lot to China's energy security; in the geopolitical dimension, it is an accomplice that shares anti-American policies and can divert some of the US attention with its European adventure. At the same time, it cannot replace the economic and technological advantages of cooperation with the US and the EU.. That is why Xi Jinping, during the recent China-EU summit, tried to achieve pragmatism in relations with the Union, while they are preoccupied with political and security factors..

" Of course, in such conditions, cooperation with them will have a very limited scope..

Even more, it seems that China is beginning to reflect on Xi's mistaken bet on Putin.. Recently, the text of the speech of the ex-Ambassador of China to Ukraine Gao Yuisheng at the China International finance Forum appeared in the press, where he focused on the degradation of Russia in the economic, military, scientific, technical and other fields. Therefore, in his opinion, its defeat in Ukraine is only a matter of time..

In some expert and media circles, there have recently been suggestions that the unsuccessful “zero COVID-19” strategy and political miscalculations in the Russian-Ukrainian war, which increased the negative economic impact and complicated relations with the West, caused discontent in the CPC party ranks, which puts under. Instead, Li Keqiang, a technocrat capable of restoring China's economic situation and improving relations with the United States, can be elected party leader..

Will predictability collapse behind the doors in Beidaihe?

In the opaque and secret system of political governance in China, it is difficult to say whether the talk about the emergence of an unexpected competitor for Xi Jinping is justified, since he has been building the path to undisputed leadership for all ten years.. The main factor in the political struggle of the current leader was a large-scale anti-corruption campaign, which fell under an unprecedented number of CCP officials, including powerful party leaders..

This summer, the northern seaside city of Beidaihe will host a closed-door meeting of party leadership, current and former leaders to establish unspoken party lines on critical CCP issues.. And most importantly, to coordinate personnel appointments in the highest echelons of power. Decisions made outside the doors of this meeting usually remain behind a thick curtain, and the tradition itself has been preserved since the days of Mao.. Over the years, Xi Jinping has so strengthened his positions and squeezed out representatives of influential groups (primarily Jiang Zemin) that until recently there was no doubt about his ability to get the leadership chair for the third time.. The subject of discussion this year should have been applicants to the leading party bodies to replace officials who left their seats due to reaching a critical age, as well as determining the candidacy of the next prime minister.

The meeting in Beidaihe is conciliatory in nature, and the main decisions will be approved at the 20th Congress of the CPC in the autumn.

It is there that it will become known whether there is still a force in China capable of removing Xi Jinping, and whether the talk of competition in the person of Li Keqiang was justified.. And the composition of the key party bodies will show the level of influence of certain groups of the Communist Party. Now only one thing is clear: the C-winner will become even more powerful and influential.

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Read more articles by Natalia Butyrskaya at the link.