China’s president Xi Jinping who is set to be given a historic third term in power at the country’s ruling Communist party congress which will begin in Beijing on Sunday reportedly faced a protest this week over his Covid zero policy. As Beijing rushed to scrub evidence of the protest on social media ahead of the once-in-five years meeting, Chinese state media has been praising Xi Jinping for another reason.
Zhangbei in rural northern China– one of the country’s poorer towns- was visited by Xi Jinping, BBC reported quoting Chinese state media. During the visit, Xi suggested the farmers to grow a different type of potato. Taking the president’s advised, the farmers reportedly grew the potato and experienced an almost miraculous transformation which ended poverty in the village, state media said in run up to the party meeting.
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The massive propaganda effort comes ahead of China’s Communist party’s 20th congress which will run for one week from October 16 to 22 during which party’s constitution will amend, a spokesman said on Saturday as per a Reuters report.
The meeting will be held in the Great Hall of the People on Tiananmen Square, opening on Sunday and concluding next Saturday, party spokesman Sun Yeli said.
The meeting in which Xi Jinping is poised to win a third five-year term as the party’s general secretary becoming the most powerful leader since Mao Zedong, will conclude with the introduction of a new elite body- Politburo standing committee- that Xi will dominate.
