Security, red banners and COVID curbs: Beijing readies for 20th Congress

A view of Chinese national flags in an alley of an old neighbourhood as the city prepares for the 20th National Congress of the Communist Party of China, in Beijing, China October 11, 2022. REUTERS/Thomas Peter

Beijing has stepped up security and COVID curbs and decorated the capital with red political banners as it gears up for a Communist Party congress where President Xi Jinping is poised to become China's most powerful leader since Mao Zedong.

The 20th party congress, which opens on Oct. 16, occurs every five years and brings together 2,300 party members, mostly behind closed doors, at the vast Great Hall of the People on Tiananmen Square.