Editor’s note for Friday, November 12, 2021

Dear reader,

We held the in-person portion of our NEXTChina conference yesterday, which included a live taping of a Sinica Podcast interview with author Peter Hessler. Access members get early access to the podcast on Monday.

The Chinese Communist Party was wrapping up its Sixth Plenum earlier in the day. The four-day meeting of the country’s top 300 leaders ended with a communiqué (in English, Chinese, or see Reuters report) and the announcement (but not yet release) of the Party’s third-ever “historical resolution.”

Analysts, Party specialists, and pundits are poring over the texts we have so far, seeking to understand its significance, but there’s only really one piece of vital information:

Xi Jinping is large and in charge, and has set himself up to rule China for the rest of his life.

Here is some coverage and commentary if you want to get into the details:

• Does Xi Jinping’s seizure of history threaten his future? by the New Yorker’s Evan Osnos
• Analysis of People’s Daily editorial: Provincial secretaries back Xi’s leadership by Manoj Kewalramani
• China’s Xi Jinping remakes the Communist Party’s history in his image from the New York Times
• 6th Plenum Communique and historical resolution by Bill Bishop

—Jeremy Goldkorn, Editor-in-Chief