China's Communist Party Congress to end on October 22

BEIJING: The Chinese Communist Party’s 20th Congress will end on October 22, a spokesman said Saturday at a press conference on the eve of the gathering, where President Xi Jinping is expected to secure a historic third term in power.

Around 2,300 delegates from every province in China will gather at the Great Hall of the People in the capital Beijing from Sunday for the mostly closed-door conclave.

The CCP’s five-yearly moot will get under way at 10 am (0200 GMT) with an opening ceremony, after which Xi is expected to deliver a speech that will give an assessment of the previous term as well as a roadmap for the next five years.

Congress spokesman Sun Yeli told reporters: “The preparations for the Congress have now been fully completed.”

Should everything go to plan, by the end of the meeting 69-year-old Xi will be reconfirmed as the party’s general secretary, cementing his position as China’s most powerful leader since Mao Zedong.

At the highly choreographed conclave, the 2,296 participants will pick members of the party’s roughly 200-member Central Committee, which in turn selects the 25-person Politburo and its all-powerful Standing Committee — the country’s highest leadership body.