Meeting gives China’s Xi a chance to tighten hold on economy
By JOE McDONALD
AP Business Writer
BEIJING (AP) — A meeting of the ruling Communist Party to install leaders gives President Xi Jinping, China’s most influential figure in decades, a chance to stack the ranks with allies who share his vision of intensifying pervasive control over entrepreneurs and technology development. The only question is whether China’s economic slump might force Xi to temper his enthusiasm for a state-run economy and add supporters of markets and private enterprise that generate jobs and wealth. The congress will install party leaders, not economic regulators. That will be done by the ceremonial legislature next year. But the party lineup will highlight who is likely to be appointed premier, the official who oversees the economy, and to other posts.
