The 17th National Congress of the Communist Party of China (CPC), held 9-16 October at the Great Hall of the People in downtown Beijing, demonstrated a determination to quell dissent, particularly within the party. The first signs of this crackdown came three weeks prior to the Congress with the sudden ouster of five key ministers, including Finance Minister Jin Renqing and State Security Minister Xu Yongyue, as well as the replacement of the editor of China's official news agency, Xinhua. Much of this stress is directly related to how ongoing economic reforms will be melded with the CPC's traditional ideology.
The CPC central committee's 22,000-word report, presented to the Congress by the party chairman, President Hu Jintao, officially ignored any tension within the world's largest communist party. Factionalism, inevitably, dies hard within the regimes of official and post-Lenin communist parties, particularly when it comes to the question of economic reform. Meanwhile, Beijing's commitment to the changes prescribed by the International Monetary Fund, World Bank and World Trade Organisation appears to remain in place, despite the fact that the World Federation of Trade Unions and the International Confederation of Trade Unions both consider the Bretton Woods trio to be a distinct threat to the poor. In this regard, Beijing's commitments are directly in line with President Hu's re-affirmation of his control during the course of the Congress.
The five-yearly Congress represents the consolidation of policy, both new and old, within the CPC, and as such is the single most important regular event in China's political sphere. Hu's report cements the perception that the CPC is increasingly, though still somewhat confusedly, abandoning its heritage of struggle for an egalitarian society. On the one hand, it emphasises "the great banner of socialism with Chinese characteristics" for Chinese development, while on the other "rallying the whole Party and the people of all ethnic groups in the country".
Taking a vow to move towards "a moderately prosperous society" by 2010, the report extends the post-Mao line of thought that Deng Xiaoping set forth in 1978. In a policy of reform and opening up that is today deemed by many as the most profound turning point in the CPC's history, Deng asserted that the party members should "emancipate their minds", seek truth in facts, and unite as one. Later, the CPC re-emphasised discipline within the party and its fronts, but kept reform as its top priority. In an ostentatious display of his allegiance to Deng, President Hu enthusiastically announced upcoming celebrations of the 30th anniversary of the start of Deng's reform.