Rare accolade puts Xi’s Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics into Communist charter and sets him on course for indefinite spell in power 
 
 Xi Jinping becomes most powerful leader since Mao with China's change to constitution 
 
 Xi Jinping has been consecrated as China’s most powerful leader since Mao Zedong after a new body of political thought carrying his name was added to the Communist party’s constitution. 
 
 
 
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 The symbolic move came on the final day of a week-long political summit in Beijing – the 19th party congress – at which Xi has pledged to lead the world’s second largest economy into a “new era” of international power and influence. 
 
 At a closing ceremony in the Mao-era Great Hall of the People on Tuesday it was announced that Xi’s Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era had been written into the party charter. 
 
 “The congress unanimously agrees that Xi Jinping Thought … shall constitute [one of] the guides to action of the party in the party constitution,” a party resolution stated. 
 
 In a brief address to more than 2,200 delegates, Xi said: “Today we, more than 1.3bn Chinese people, live in jubilation and dignity. Our land ... radiates with enormous dynamism. Our Chinese civilisation shines with lasting splendour and glamour.” 
 
 “Our party shows strong, firm and vibrant leadership. Our socialist system demonstrates great strength and vitality. The Chinese people and the Chinese nation embrace brilliant prospects,” Xi added. 
 
 
 
 Some see the historic decision to enshrine Xi’s concept as a clear hint that he will seek to remain in power beyond the end of his second - and supposedly last - five-year term, in 2022. 
 
 An even clearer indication of whether he is set on staying in power should come on Wednesday morning when Xi introduces China’s new top ruling council, the politburo standing committee, during a fiercely choreographed piece of political theatre that signals the start of his second term. 
 
 
 
 If the committee’s line-up - which is almost certain to be made up of seven men - includes no obvious successor, that would represent further proof that Xi plans to rule at least until 2027 and possibly beyond. 
 
 Since the Communist party of China was founded in 1921, only one leader, Mao himself, has been honoured in such a way while still alive, in his case with a political philosophy called Mao Zedong Thought. 
 
 
 
 Deng Xiaoping, the architect of China’s economic opening, also boasts a school of eponymous ideology in the party charter, Deng Xiaoping Theory, but that was included only after his death in 1997. 
 
 Bill Bishop, the publisher of the Sinocism newsletter on Chinese politics, said the birth of Xi Jinping Thought confirmed the rare levels of power and prestige enjoyed by its creator. “It means Xi is effectively unassailable … If you challenge Xi, you are challenging the party – and you never want to be against the party.” 
 
 Jude Blanchette, an expert in Chinese politics from New York’s Conference Board research group, said: “This is about amassing power and credibility and legitimacy and authority within the system to drive through more effectively what he sees as the right path for China. 
 
 “If you tower above the party, then it is very difficult for anyone below you to decide they don’t want to implement your commands.” 
 
 Xi Jinping’s Leninist quest for a dynasty inspires congressional love-in Read more 
 
 Writing in the Financial Times, Australia’s former prime minister Kevin Rudd said the fanfare around China’s leader suggested Xi, who took power in 2012 and had been expected to step down in 2022, would in fact rule well into the next decade. “Five years ago I said he would be China’s most powerful leader since Deng Xiaoping. I was wrong. He is now China’s most powerful leader since Mao Zedong,” Rudd wrote. 
 
 However, Susan Shirk, the head of the 21st Century China Centre at the University of California, San Diego, disputed the portrayal of Xi as an almighty Mao-like figure. 
 
 “He’s ruling differently, for sure, and people are intimidated by him because of the anti-corruption campaign.” But Shirk said she was reserving judgment on whether Xi was attempting “a real dictatorial play” until the new line-up of China’s top ruling council, the politburo standing committee, was announced on Wednesday. 
 
 If that committee included at least one of three possible successors – Hu Chunhua, Chen Min’er or Zhang Qingwei – that would signal Xi’s intention to step down in 2022, she said. If no clear successor emerged, however, it would fuel fears that Xi was “going for broke, all-out to be a dictator” and planned to remain in power indefinitely. 
 
 “I’m prepared to call him a dictator after that. But I am waiting to see,” said Shirk, US deputy assistant secretary of state under Bill Clinton. 
 
 
 
 Were Xi to stay in office beyond the anticipated decade, he would be the first leader to do so since Deng Xiaoping. According to unwritten leadership rules introduced in the 1990s to ensure orderly power transitions, the party’s general secretary should serve for no more than 10 years. 
 
 “The idea that Xi Jinping retires in five years is incredibly unlikely,” said Blanchette. 
 
 Xi has been the focus of a chorus of songs of praise since the congress began last week. 
 
 
 
 Chen Quanguo, the party chief of Xinjiang, hailed his leader’s teachings as “intellectually incisive, visionary and magnificent”. Jilin province’s party boss, Bayanqolu, went even further. “General Secretary Xi Jinping is … the party’s helmsman,” he gushed, deploying a term famously used to hail Mao. 
 
 Blanchette said such displays of loyalty were “a striking indication of just how singular the party is under Xi”. 
 
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 He added: “We are not at the point, like in the Cultural Revolution, where mangoes that Mao Zedong touched are worshipped. But we are certainly seeing a movement towards a new type of politics … one that is borrowing heavily from [the Mao era].” 
 
 Bishop said two factors explained Xi’s emergence as one of the most dominant figures in modern Chinese history. One was the 64-year-old’s own ambition. “Xi is sort of a Chinese Machiavelli”, who grew up in a revolutionary family hearing tales of Mao’s legendary political manoeuvrings. “A lot of that stuff must have sunk in,” Bishop said. 
 
 But Xi’s rise also reflected a broader consensus within the party that a strongman was needed to help China avoid a Soviet-style collapse. In 2012, on the eve of Xi taking power, Bishop said there had been a sense among China’s political elites that “if Xi didn’t clear things up, then the place was going to implode and the Communist party was done”. 
 
 
 
 Back then, a common refrain was: “Xi is our last hope.” 
 
 
 
 On Tuesday, Xi pitched himself as the leader of a “sacred” mission to restore China to its rightful place in the world. 
 
 
 
 “Living in such a great era, we are all the more confident and proud, and also feel the heavy weight of responsibility upon us,” he said. “We must have the courage and resolve to build on the historic achievements made by the Chinese people under the leadership of the Chinese Communists generation after generation, create new accomplishments befitting this great epoch and stride forward to an ever promising future.” 
 
 
 
 In a triumphalist editorial published shortly after Xi’s closing address, the party’s official news agency, Xinhua, said the advent of Xi Thought underlined how China was now rising “like never before”. 
 
 
 
 “China is set to regain its might and re-ascend to the top of the world,” it boasted. “Those expecting China to fall will be disappointed. Finger pointing and questioning the legitimacy of the Chinese way are of no avail. It is time to understand China’s path, because it appears it will continue to triumph.” 
 
 Outside the Great Hall of the People, delegates and members of the public gave Xi’s elevation the thumbs up. 
 
 
 
 “It’s very exciting. We really need a new guide for a new era,” said Li Wanjun, a delegate from the north-eastern province of Jilin. 
 
 
 
 Lin Xingyuan, a 35-year-old IT worker who was queuing to enter Tiananmen Square, agreed. 
 
 
 
 “It’s very inspiring,” he said, before being cut off by a green-clad member of the Communist party’s People’s Armed Police force who said interviews were forbidden in the area. 
 
 Additional reporting by Wang Zhen 
 
 ||||| China's Communist Party formally elevated President Xi Jinping to the same status as party legends Mao Zedong and Deng Xiaoping on Tuesday, writing his name into its constitution and setting up the nation's leader for an extended stay in power. 
 
 The move will make Xi the most powerful Chinese leader in decades, with ambitions to tighten party control over society and make his country a superpower on the world stage, with a political philosophy directly opposed to that of the West. 
 
 [Latest: China’s Xi Jinping unveils his top party leaders, with no successor in sight] 
 
 The unanimous vote to enshrine "Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics in a New Era" in the constitution came on the final day of a week-long party congress, a gathering of the party elite held every five years in the imposing and cavernous Great Hall of the People on the western side of Beijing's Tiananmen Square. 
 
 There is no "Little Red Book" of pithy quotations as there was under Mao but instead a ­mightier, drier tome of Xi's speeches on "The Governance of China." Nevertheless, his ideas will now become compulsory learning for Chinese ­students from primary school through university. 
 
 Xi's is an explicit rejection of Western ideas about democracy and free speech in favor of Communist Party leadership in every aspect of life, and a desire to challenge the United States' preeminent role in the Asia-Pacific region and beyond. 
 
 
 
 A poster with a portrait of Chinese President Xi Jinping is displayed along a street in Shanghai, China, on Tuesday. (Aly Song/Reuters) 
 
 On Wednesday, more evidence of Xi's power will emerge when he introduces to the media the other members of the Communist Party's top leadership, the Politburo Standing Committee. Experts say it is unlikely that a clear successor will emerge or be anointed, leaving Xi's preeminent position free of an obvious challenge. 
 
 
 
 The 19th Party Congress effectively marks the start of Xi's second five-year term as party general secretary. But the chances are now higher that this will not be his last — or at least that he will remain the most powerful person in China beyond 2022. 
 
 [Xi Jinping and six other men will rule China, but women are left behind] 
 
 "The amendment of the party constitution effectively confirms Xi Jinping's aspiration to be the Mao Zedong of the 21st century — that means a top leader with no constraints on tenure or retirement age," said Willy Wo-Lap Lam, a political expert at the Chinese University of Hong Kong. 
 
 The inclusion of Xi's name in the party document makes him only the third Chinese leader to be so honored, with his ideology joining Marxism-Leninism, Mao Zedong Thought and Deng ­Xiaoping Theory as a "guide to action." 
 
 China's Communist Party imposed a system of collective leadership after the death of Mao. It was a party scarred by the madness, cruelty and famine that one man had prompted through disastrous policies, notably the Great Leap Forward and the Cultural Revolution. 
 
 As a result, Xi's two predecessors, Jiang Zemin and Hu Jintao, ruled through consensus — as the "first among equals" at the top of the ladder — and were limited to two terms in power. 
 
 Now the party is moving in the other direction. 
 
 [As Xi gets a second term, Chinese wonder if he’ll be another Putin] 
 
 'Assertion of authority' 
 
 Xi's power is not unlimited, and many of his key policy measures reflect ideas adopted by the party before he took power. Yet the past week has seen an explosion of sycophancy toward China's leader, after his mammoth 3 ½ -hour speech kicked off proceedings last Wednesday. This is a personal style of rule, much like President Vladi­mir Putin's in Russia. 
 
 Throughout the week, senior officials lined up, one after the other, to laud what they described as Xi's profound, courageous, thrilling, insightful masterpiece of a speech, which shone "the light of Marxist Truth" and moved some of them from the bottom of their hearts, some said. 
 
 "In retrospect, it was an overwhelming assertion of authority to a degree unseen since Mao," said François Godement, director of the China-Asia program at the European Council on Foreign Relations. 
 
 Xi still would have to overcome significant obstacles if he wants to remain in power beyond the next party congress, in 2022 — including a convention that officials retire if they are 68 or older, said Yanmei Xie, a China policy expert at Gavekal Dragonomics in Beijing. By that time, Xi will be 69. 
 
 There had been speculation that Xi would break from previous practice by asking Wang ­Qishan, his right-hand man and powerful head of the anti-corruption authority, to stay on another five years. Yet the 69-year-old Wang's name does not appear on a new list of Central Committee members, implying that the retirement convention remains in place, at least for now. 
 
 Xi also would have to amend the constitution if he wanted a third term as president — or appoint a loyal follower to the top job while retaining power behind the scenes, as Putin did in Russia in 2008. 
 
 Nevertheless, the fact that Xi's name figures in the constitution puts him on a par with the party's "immortals," Mao and Deng, who had no term limits and did not retire, said Xie. 
 
 And the drumbeat of propaganda about loyalty to his leadership — combined with the constant threat of an unforgiving anti-corruption campaign that has taken down several powerful rivals — makes it more difficult for anyone who dares challenge him. 
 
 "The introduction of Xi Thought makes the question of succession while Xi is alive a moot issue," said Bill Bishop, publisher of the Sinocism newsletter. "He is the man with an eponymous theory in the party constitution, so no one will have more authority than him" — no matter what title Xi holds, Bishop said. 
 
 Xi Jinping Thought embodies several important principles, experts said: primarily that the party is in control of every aspect of life in China, including the economy, the Internet, politics, culture and religion. The party must be more disciplined and more responsive to people's needs, but its leadership must not be questioned. 
 
 Xi highlighted what he called the "principal contradiction" in modern China, between unbalanced and unequal development and "people's needs for a better life." 
 
 There should be no more blind pursuit of economic growth at all costs, he implied, but a focus on the issues that concern people the most, including the need to curb pollution and provide better education and health care. 
 
 Meanwhile, the market will continue to play an important role in the economy, but the party and key state-owned enterprises will remain supreme. 
 
 No 'convergence' 
 
 But the other big message is that China is on a path to become a true global superpower — very much on its own terms. 
 
 "Under his reign, there is no more hope of convergence," said Godement, at the European Council on Foreign Relations. That would have seen China becoming more open, more ruled by law and more democratic as it became wealthier, and its interests and political system ultimately converging with those of the West. 
 
 The idea of political reform in a Western sense is now firmly out the window: Indeed, Chinese state media no longer hides its contempt for the political and economic systems of the West. 
 
 Xi's message promotes a nationalist, assertive China with a much stronger military — a country that he says will not threaten the world but will resolutely defend its interests. 
 
 "By the middle of this century or before, China aims to close the gap economically and militarily with the United States and become the ultimate arbiter in the Asia-Pacific region," said the Chinese University of Hong Kong's Lam. 
 
 If Mao's era was one of revolution and nation-building, and Deng's was one of reform and opening that set China on the path to becoming a global economic power, Xi's era perhaps is one of control and nationalism, of realizing what he calls "the Chinese Dream of national rejuvenation." 
 
 Deng's influence on the course of Chinese history was weighty, but his power was wielded less explicitly, often behind the scenes. As a result, his "Theory on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics" was not formally incorporated into the party constitution until after his death. 
 
 Former leader Jiang's ideological contribution is recognized in the document as the "Theory of Three Represents," and Hu's as "Scientific Outlook on Development," but neither man is mentioned by name. 
 
 Read more 
 
 Move over, America. China presents itself as ‘blazing a new trail’ for the world. 
 
 Xi Jinping at China congress calls on party to tighten its grip on the country 
 
 As U.S. retreats in the Pacific, China fills the void with an ambitious plan 
 
 Today’s coverage from Post correspondents around the world 
 
 Like Washington Post World on Facebook and stay updated on foreign news ||||| Media playback is unsupported on your device Media caption Xi to delegates: Is anyone against me? 
 
 China's ruling Communist Party has voted to enshrine Xi Jinping's name and ideology in its constitution, elevating him to the level of founder Mao Zedong. 
 
 The unanimous vote to incorporate "Xi Jinping Thought" happened at the end of the Communist Party congress, China's most important political meeting. 
 
 Mr Xi has steadily increased his grip on power since becoming leader in 2012. 
 
 This move means that any challenge to Mr Xi will now be seen as a threat to Communist Party rule. 
 
 More than 2,000 delegates gathered in Beijing's Great Hall of the People for the final approval process to enshrine "Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for the New Era" into the Communist Party constitution of China. 
 
 At the end of the process, delegates were asked if they had any objections, to which they responded with loud cries of "none", reported journalists at the scene. 
 
 Previous Chinese Communist Party leaders have had their ideologies incorporated into the party's constitution or thinking, but none, besides founder Mao Zedong, have had their philosophy described as "thought", which is at the top of the ideological hierarchy. 
 
 Only Mao and Deng Xiaoping have had their names attached to their ideologies - and Deng's name was only added to the constitution after his death. 
 
 Why is this important? 
 
 By Carrie Gracie, BBC China editor, Beijing 
 
 Image copyright Reuters Image caption The change to the constitution puts Xi Jinping (left) on par with party founder Mao Zedong (right) 
 
 China's new slogan hardly trips off the tongue. 
 
 But schoolchildren, college students and staff at state factories will now have to join 90 million Communist Party members in studying "Xi Jinping Thought" on the new era of socialism with Chinese characteristics. 
 
 The expression "new era" is the party's way of saying this is the third chapter of modern China. 
 
 If the first was Chairman Mao uniting a country devastated by civil war, and the second was getting rich under Deng Xiaoping, this new era is about even more unity and wealth at the same time as making China disciplined at home and strong abroad. 
 
 Enshrining all of this under Xi Jinping's name in the party constitution means rivals cannot now challenge China's strongman without threatening Communist Party rule. 
 
 What is 'Xi Jinping Thought'? 
 
 At first glance, "Xi Jinping Thought" may seem like vague rhetoric, but it describes the communist ideals Mr Xi has continuously espoused throughout his rule. 
 
 Its 14 main principles emphasise the Communist Party's role in governing every aspect of the country, and also include: 
 
 A call for "complete and deep reform" and "new developing ideas" 
 
 A promise of "harmonious living between man and nature" - this is a call for improved environmental conservation, and could refer to the stated aim to have the bulk of China's energy needs supplied by renewables 
 
 An emphasis on "absolute authority of the party over the people's army" - which comes amid what analysts call the largest turnover of senior military officials in modern Chinese history 
 
 An emphasis on the importance of "'one country two systems" and reunification with the motherland - a clear reference to Hong Kong and Taiwan 
 
 What else has been happening? 
 
 More than 2,000 delegates have spent the week-long congress confirming picks for provincial party chiefs, governors and heads of some state-owned enterprises. 
 
 On Tuesday, they finalised the make-up of top bodies such as the Central Committee and the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection. 
 
 Last week a top official claimed high-ranking Communist Party members had plotted to seize power from President Xi, in suggestions of a behind-the-scenes power struggle. 
 
 The alleged plotters have all been arrested or jailed as part of a corruption crackdown, seen by some as a way for Mr Xi to eliminate political opponents. 
 
 What happens next? 
 
 On Wednesday, the new Central Committee will decide who gets to be in the higher-level Politburo. 
 
 Though delegates get some say, in reality the elections are guided by the party's top leadership where at each stage voters pick from pre-selected candidates. 
 
 Media playback is unsupported on your device Media caption How a student counsellor sees the Communist Party Congress 
 
 Also on Wednesday, the party will reveal the new members of its pinnacle body, the Politburo Standing Committee. Mr Xi is widely expected to remain as party leader, while prominent Xi ally and anti-corruption chief Wang Qishan has stepped down and will not be in the next formation of the committee. 
 
 Those in the Standing Committee will be especially scrutinised. Analysts say its make-up may give signs of how long Mr Xi plans to stay on at the top of the party - he is expected to remain at the helm until at least 2022 - or any possible successors. 
 
 Mr Xi's term ruling China has been marked by significant development, a push for modernisation and increasing assertiveness on the world stage. 
 
 However, it has also seen growing authoritarianism, censorship and a crackdown on human rights.
– Prepare to hear the name Xi Jinping for years to come as a main player on the world stage. China's Communist Party on Tuesday made a rare constitutional move that elevates Xi to the status of Mao Zedong and sets the stage for him to rule indefinitely. Specifically, the party enshrined Xi's ideology, dubbed "Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics in a New Era," into the constitution, meaning it will be taught in schools from now on, reports the Guardian. He is only the third Chinese leader to receive the honor, after Mao and Deng Xioping, notes the Washington Post. Technically, Xi is only formally beginning his second five-year term as party secretary, but the move and the accolades he has received all week seemingly guarantee his long-term status. "The amendment of the party constitution effectively confirms Xi Jinping's aspiration to be the Mao Zedong of the 21st century—that means a top leader with no constraints on tenure or retirement age," says an expert at the Chinese University of Hong Kong. So what is Xi Jinping Thought? The BBC explains that while it smacks of "vague rhetoric," it contains 14 principles that Xi has long espoused, including a call for "complete and deep reform" and a pledge of "harmonious living between man and nature." Carrie Gracie of the BBC writes that the "new era" part of Xi's ideology is significant. This would be modern China's third. The first was Mao "uniting a country devastated by civil war," the second was Deng making the nation rich, and "this new era is about even more unity and wealth at the same time as making China disciplined at home and strong abroad." (Xi spoke for more than 3 hours last week. Here's what he said.)