All Xi’s men: Takeaways from China’s historic Communist Party Congress

Members of China's new Politburo Standing Committee take the stage at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, China October 23, 2022. © Tingshu Wang, Reuters

The 20th session of the Chinese Communist Party Congress in Beijing ended Sunday with Xi Jinping securing an unprecedented third presidential term. That was the set piece, arranged for maximum political ends. The real story though was the unscripted dramas – the men who rose and fell in the party’s pecking order – and what that spells for the Asian giant’s future.

For those who thought the twice-a-decade Chinese Communist Party (CCP) National Congress was just boring political theatre, the 20^th session, which ended on Sunday, packed in enough drama to prove them wrong.