China has kicked off one of its most important political meetings of the year, held over four days in Beijing. The fifth plenary session of the 19th Communist Party Central Committee will see China roll out its five-year economic and development plan.
But President Xi Jinping is also likely to unveil a longer-term plan for the next 15 years, called "Vision 2035". This, say analysts, has prompted speculation that he intends to essentially be "president-for-life". The aim of Vision 2035, says Benjamin Hillman, a professor at the Australian National University, is to "set goalposts for China's progress towards achieving high-income status [being a fully developed nation] by 2049".
Yet the "very idea of a 2035 manifesto has also prompted speculation that Xi intends to lead China through this period, becoming, essentially, president-for-life," he told the BBC. China scrapped presidential term limits in 2018, which would allow Mr Xi to remain beyond his two terms.
