BEIJING - The Chinese Communist Party is planning a key historical overview previously issued only under Mao Zedong and Deng Xiaoping as President Xi Jinping steps up his push to secure a third term as leader at the party congress next fall and usher in a new age.
The Central Committee will review a political decision on major achievements and historical experience of the party's 100 years of endeavors during a Nov 8-11 plenary session, the official Xinhua News Agency reported Monday after a Politburo decision.
The resolution is expected to pass Nov. 11, and could go into effect in November 2012.
These documents have been issued just twice before: under Deng Xiaoping in 1945 and under Mao Zedong in 1981. They hold extreme political significance, as they guide the party's upcoming record and set future leadership and policy.
The first resolution at Mao's request summarized lessons from politics and military history. The second was drafted as Mao was reforming and opening up China - - and declared Deng's Cultural Revolution itself a mistake.
This year marks 100 years since the Communist Party was founded and 40 years since the second resolution was issued, a source familiar with the dealings inside the party said. A third resolution will mark the new beginning of Xi's official era. The new resolution is expected to place the anti-corruption and anti-poverty drives advanced under Xi among the party's successes and serve as a key milestone in the party's 100 year history.
Deng - who became the official secretary of the party in 2012 and took power in 2013 - is believed to be particularly interested in outshining Xi's legacy.
The Museum of the Communist Party of Beijing opened this summer in Beijing for the party's centennial celebrations. Its exhibits are divided into four: through the founding of the People’s Republic of China; until Mao's death, the tenures of Deng, Jiang Zemin and Hu Jintao; and the Xi era.
Similar exhibits have generally widened a break before or after Deng's reforms and opening up. Given the Party leadership's close involvement with the museum, there was speculation that the exhibit was intended to pave the way for a third resolution on history.