MERICS Media Workshop: The 20th National Congress of the Chinese Communist Party

On October 16, the 20th National Congress of the Communist Party will kick off in Beijing with about 2,300 delegates attending. Xi Jinping intends to secure a third term as General Secretary at the party congress and further cement his rule by appointing loyal followers to key decision-making bodies throughout the party.

There is no doubt that Xi will consolidate his grip power even more firmly at the congress, but there are many details to watch at this all-important meeting: 

• What answers do Xi and his power apparatus have to the crises that are putting China's economy and society under pressure? 
• What will become of Xi's prestige projects such as achieving the goal of "common prosperity" or pushing geopolitical projects like the “Belt & Road " and the Global Development and Global Security Initiatives?
• What sort of developments from the party congress should Germany and other European countries focus on when adjusting their China strategies in response to a post-congress Xi and CCP?

To better understand the agenda of the CCP’s National Congress and the crucial questions that arise from the meeting, we discussed with our experts at a MERICS Media Workshop on Thursday, October 13. The recorded video shows the presentation of our experts without the Q&A session with the participating journalists.

Speakers: 

• Nis Grünberg, Lead Analyst, MERICS
• Jacob Gunter, Senior Analyst, MERICS
• Valarie Tan, Analyst, MERICS 

Moderator: Claudia Wessling, Director Communications and Publications