The Chinese Communist Party will hold its twice-per-decade party congress this fall to select its leaders for the next five years. In the coming weeks, much ink will be spilled speculating about President Xi Jinping's grip on power and his policy priorities for his second term. There have been predictions that when the politically fraught party congress is behind him, Xi will have sufficiently consolidated power to be in a position to embrace social and economic liberalization. Such forecasts belie experiences of the past five years. The most likely outcome of the party congress will be policy continuity, not change.
