BEIJING: China’s ruling Communist Party will en­­shrine President Xi Jinping’s political thought into the country’s constitution, state media said on Friday, further solidifying his power following its addition last year to the party constitution.

The arguably more important party constitution was amended at the once-in-five-years 19th Party Congress in October to include Xi’s political thought.

The party unanimously passed an amendment then to add “Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era” as one of its guiding principles.

Following a two-day meeting of top officials in Beijing, the party has now proposed writing the same theory into the state constitution, state news agency Xinhua said.

The communique said Xi’s thought had generated a national “fervour” which had helped provide “great spiritual impetus” in the implementation of 19th Party Congress’s strategic policies.

Published in Dawn, January 20th, 2018