Chinese Leader Xi Surpasses All Predecessors, Including Mao, According to Centennial Propaganda

People walk in front of a large screen showing China's leader Xi Jinping giving a speech during celebrations to mark the 100th anniversary of the founding of the Chinese Communist Party, in Beijing on July 1, 2021. (Noel Celis/AFP via Getty Images)

News Analysis

The Chinese Communist Party (CCP) took the occasion of their 100th anniversary celebrations to heavily promote leader Xi Jinping, magnifying his achievements to make him seem to surpass all previous party leaders.

State-run Xinhua News Agency published a nearly 100,000-character “Chronicle of the CCP’s 100-Year History” on June 27. Xi Jinping’s time in office accounted for a third of the article’s content, and his name appeared more frequently than Mao Zedong’s.

The article dedicated more than 30,000 characters to Xi’s accomplishments between 2012 and 2021. His name appeared 184 times, while Mao’s name appeared 138 times.

Since the CCP took over China in 1949, there have been eight party leaders: Mao Zedong, Hua Guofeng, Deng Xiaoping, Hu Yaobang, Zhao Ziyang, Jiang Zemin, Hu Jintao, and Xi Jinping. However, three of them—Hua Guofeng, Hu Yaobang, and Zhao Ziyang—are considered to have made mistakes related to the CCP’s “basic line,” and they are no longer counted as party leaders in CCP literature.

The Party History and Documentation Research Institute of the CCP’s Central Committee edited and translated 66 books by Xi Jinping, greatly outnumbering Mao Zedong’s 22 books, Deng Xiaoping’s 10 books, Jiang Zemin’s eight books, and Hu Jintao’s four books, according to a June 27 speech by Qu Qingshan, the president of the institute.

In another CCP centenary celebration article from People’s Daily, Xi’s name appeared 14 times, while Mao’s appeared four times, and Deng’s only three times. Jiang Zemin and Hu Jintao were not mentioned at all.

It’s common knowledge in China that Xi’s predecessor Hu Jintao did not have any real power during his tenure, and he was regarded as being controlled by Jiang Zemin and his faction.

According to some China commentators, Jiang has also been the greatest challenge to Xi’s rule.

After Xi came to power in 2012, he immediately went about weakening the Jiang faction. Using an anti-corruption campaign, Xi purged some of his most powerful enemies in the Jiang faction: Bo Xilai, Zhou Yongkang, Xu Caihou, Guo Boxiong, Ling Jihua, and others.