China confirms it will amend Party constitution

China’s ruling Communist Party has agreed to amend the party constitution, expected to embed President Xi Jinping’s political thought, ahead of next week’s five-yearly party congress. The party’s Central Committee, the largest of its elite ruling bodies, on Saturday passed a previously announced proposal to amend the constitution which will now be put to the Congress for formal approval, Reuters reports. A lengthy communique released by the party via state media offered praise for the past five years under Xi’s leadership, but did not say what wording would be inserted into the party constitution. A key measure of Xi’s power will be whether he manages to have his name “crowned” in the party constitution, elevating him to the level of previous leaders exemplified by Mao Zedong Thought and Deng Xiaoping Theory. Xi”s more recent predecessors, Jiang Zemin and Hu Jintao, both had the party constitution amended to include their guiding thoughts, but without their names directly attached.