Happy Saturday, Day 4 of the Xi Era…

The free weekly edition of Sinocism is slimming down significantly going forward. In November I will transition the free version into a new media partnership and they focus on concision and brevity.

We are all relieved the 19th Party Congress has concluded. My four top takeaways from the Party Congress, as discussed in detail in this week’s newsletters are:

1. The addition of “Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era 习近平新时代中国特色社会主义思想” into the Party Constitution as a guide to action 行动指南 confirms that Xi Jinping is the most powerful leader in decades, is a huge break from Party norms over the last several decades;

2. The enshrinement signals that it is Xi’s Party and makes the question of succession while Xi is alive more difficult. So long as Xi has not yet met Marx he is the man with an eponymous theory in the Party Constitution, which means no other official will have more authority than he does. The Standing Committee me…