Xi vows to strengthen China's military, economy as 20th congress opens

Chinese President Xi Jinping gave a wide-ranging speech as he kicked off the twice-a-decade Communist Party congress on Sunday, focusing heavily on security and reiterating policy priorities.

Xi described the five years since the last party congress as "extremely uncommon and abnormal," during a speech that lasted less than two hours. However, he said little about COVID-19 other than to reiterate the validity of a policy that has made China a global outlier as much of the world tries to coexist with the coronavirus, which emerged in central China in late 2019.

Xi also reiterated opposition to Taiwan's independence, which drew the biggest applause during his speech. Calling for military strengthening, Xi also addressed the urgency of securing food and energy supplies, stabilizing supply chains, improving the ability to deal with disasters and protecting personal information.

At the party conference, leader Xi is expected to receive a third five-year term that would break with recent precedent and would establish him as arguably the most powerful Chinese politician since Mao Zedong.

The gathering is closely watched by companies, governments and the public alike, amid a painful slump in the world’s second-largest economy and its rising tensions with Washington and Asian neighbours.

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