China. After the CCP Congress, what direction for the next five years?

The Chinese Communist Party (CCP) revealed on Saturday morning the composition of the twenty-five members of its political bureau (Politburo), only male. Seven of them form the standing committee, the most powerful men in the land.

Unsurprisingly, Xi Jinping was reappointed as head of the CCP, paving the way for a third term. In view of this new leadership team, what paths will the Middle Kingdom follow in terms of domestic and foreign policy over the next five years?

A locked country

“Xi Jinping has placed people who are totally indebted to him at the center of power,” explains Valérie Niquet,…