The Economist analyzes the rise of the 7th generation of the Chinese Communist Party, and their growth background attracts attention

The 21st National Congress of the Communist Party of China will be held next year. The British Economist published an article analyzing that as the fifth-generation leader Xi Jinping will almost certainly continue to be in power and many of the sixth-generation echelons have fallen from power, the seventh-generation echelons born in the 1960s and 1970s are gradually rising. Their upbringing background is different from that of previous generations, and attention has been paid to whether they have developed more enlightened thinking as a result.

The Economist published an article titled "The Chinese Communist Party Facing Generational Change" on the 22nd, analyzing the seventh generation of the Chinese Communist Party.

The article pointed out that the 21st National Congress of the Communist Party of China will be held in 2027, and there is almost no doubt that Xi Jinping, the current General Secretary of the Communist Party of China, will continue his leadership. Xi Jinping is regarded as the fifth generation leader of the Chinese Communist Party, but his anti-corruption campaign has severely damaged the sixth generation echelon. In the past five years, perhaps one-fifth of the voting members of the Central Committee have been purged.

The article stated that under such circumstances, the seventh generation of the CCP is rising. These include Zhu Zhongming, the 54-year-old acting mayor of Shanghai, who is almost certain to have a seat on the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee in the future if he serves as Shanghai Party Secretary.

Others worthy of attention include Liu Jie, the 56-year-old governor of Zhejiang Province, and Adong, the 55-year-old first secretary of the Central Secretariat of the Communist Youth League of China (Communist Youth League). Xi Jinping has worked in Zhejiang Province for many years, and in the past two top leaders of the Communist Party of China served as the first secretary of the Central Secretariat (Hu Yaobang and Hu Jintao) of the Communist Youth League.

The article stated that the seventh generation of the CCP was born in the 1960s and 1970s, and they have little or no memories of the Mao Zedong era. When they were growing up in the 1980s, China was entering its most open-minded period since the 1950s. This atmosphere lasted until the June 4th incident in 1989.

The article also pointed out that unlike the 5th and 6th generation echelons, the studies of the 7th generation echelon of the Chinese Communist Party were not seriously interrupted during the Cultural Revolution. Many have graduated from elite universities and obtained doctorates, and some have worked outside China for long periods of time. For example, 57-year-old Beijing Mayor Yin Yong has a master's degree from Harvard University in the United States, and 56-year-old Fujian Provincial Party Committee Deputy Secretary Guo Ningning has worked for Chinese state-owned banks in Hong Kong and Singapore for several years.

The article believes that the seventh-generation echelon has the opportunity to be exposed to open thinking in the early stages, which cannot be ignored. However, Wu Guoguang, a professor at the Center for Chinese Economics and Institutions at Stanford University, also said that when cadres have great power, they will be "deeply socialized and trained."

The article stated that the Fifth Plenary Session of the 20th Central Committee of the Communist Party of China will be held from October 26 to 29. Officials previously stated that the meeting will review "the decision of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China on several major issues on persistently promoting comprehensive and strict governance of the party." The private meeting will carefully consider the issue of generational change in Chinese politics.

The article stated that based on the general retirement age of the Chinese Communist Party, two-thirds of the Central Committee may retire at the 21st National Congress of the Communist Party of China in 2027, and the proportion of the seventh generation echelon may increase from 8% to more than 40%.