President Xi Jinping of China is unlikely to face a challenge in the next election

According to the latest Mercator Institute for China Studies analysis, Chinese President Xi Jinping faces no challenge to a second term because he has spent a decade eliminating opposition and factions within the Communist Party of China (CPC) while maintaining significant control over armed forces (MERICS).

People in China are in great distress as extreme lockdowns in Shanghai, Beijing, and other cities have resulted in protests and clashes, with people forced to stay at home for weeks without normal access to food and medicines, according to MERICS analysis cited by the Policy Research group.

However, President Xi, who is about to enter his third term as the country’s Helmsman, bulldozed his way through the country, telling the people that harsh measures are required to deal with the harsh realities of the day. Premier Li Keqiang appears to disagree with Xi’s belief that the anti-Covid policy will “stand the test of time.”

Meanwhile, Li Keqiang is set to’retire’ soon, but due to the Covid-induced economic slowdown, he has been ordered to keep the economy on track while not interfering with Xi’s Zero-Covid strategy to maintain the economic baseline.

According to Jacob Gunter, Senior Analyst at MERICS, this is nothing more than a firefighting task, and the Chinese Premier has been told to “put out a raging inferno without any water.”

Premier Li also held a virtual meeting with over 100,000 officials from all levels of government across the country to coordinate policy in order to keep the economy from collapsing completely.

According to POREG, 47% of CEOs polled expect Chinese sales to worsen, while 27% expect them to remain unchanged, indicating a tacit vote of no confidence in Beijing’s ability to emerge from the crisis this year. It indicates a growing understanding that President Xi Jinping will not abandon “zero-Covid” anytime soon. Even as the Communist Party of China (CPC) prepares for its 20th Party Congress in the fall, no shifts away from “Zero-Covid” or established economic measures are visible.

To maintain stability in the face of a more volatile and unpredictable international situation, China has begun pre-emptive domestic preparations in case it, too, becomes the target of economic sanctions, as Russia has. China conducted an exercise three months ago, in March, to see how its agencies would react to such moves by the West.

Internationally, China has doubled down on its foreign policy course; there is no indication that China will reconsider its anti-Western alliance with Russia. For example, China held an earlier-than-usual annual joint air-force exercise with Russia over the East China Sea, while President Biden met with the leaders of Japan, India, and Australia in Tokyo.

According to the report, China has increased its efforts to rally states in a push for greater multipolarity channeled through loosely defined formats such as the Global Development Initiative, the new Global Security Initiative, or an expanded BRICS grouping.

As a counter to the United States’ Indo-Pacific Economic Framework for Prosperity, the communist country has increased diplomatic outreach, particularly to the Global South. Foreign Minister Wang Yi recently toured eight South Pacific island nations, but he was unable to persuade them to endorse a “Common Development Vision” that included security cooperation, similar to the controversial deal China has with the Solomon Islands.