Just hours after China’s president Xi Jinping met virtually with US president Joe Biden on November 16th, Chinese state media released the text of the Chinese Communist Party’s  new “Resolution on History”. In the week prior, top leaders in the party convened to approve the document - only the third of its kind - elevating Xi to the stature of former leaders Mao Zedong and Deng Xiaoping. Nothing will stand in his way should he seek a third five-year term at next year’s party congress. 

MERICS Analyst Valarie Tan offers a first-look interpretation of the document’s wording. What themes are prominent in this resolution? Why did its timing coincide with the Xi-Biden summit? 

 Also, check out Valarie Tan’s short analysis about the resolution.