“The party center and the whole party must have a core,” it said in an editorial at the end of the Central Committee meeting.<br />China’s Communist Party Declares Xi Jinping ‘Core’ Leader -<br />BEIJING — President Xi Jinping of China received a potent boost to his status on Thursday, when a Communist Party<br />meeting elevated him to “core” leader, putting him in the same revered ranks as Mao Zedong and Deng Xiaoping.<br />Since he became general secretary of the party in 2012, the leadership “with Comrade Xi Jinping as its core has acted on its words<br />and led by example,” said a communiqué from the four-day assembly of the Central Committee.<br />Giving Mr. Xi core status was “in the fundamental interests of the party and the country, and will act as fundamental assurance<br />that the leadership of the party is maintained and strengthened.”<br />The term “core” leader dates back to the turbulence of 1989, when Deng used it to anchor<br />the shaky authority of Jiang Zemin, who had been abruptly appointed general secretary.<br />“For a country and for a party, a leading core is vitally important,” said the document, which was solemnly read on Chinese state television news.<br />“This concept of a core will certainly help in advancing supervision inside the party and fighting corruption,” Professor Nie said.<br />“It seems that this plenum really was a victory for Xi,” Joseph Fewsmith, a professor<br />at Boston University who studies Chinese leadership politics, said by email.
