China's Communist Party Members Receive Medals Ahead of 100th Anniversary

China's President Xi Jinping presents medals to model Communist Party members, 2 days before the 100th anniversary of the founding of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP).

“We have written a splendid chapter in the history of the Chinese nation and entire human race,” said Xi as he congratulated the July 1 medal recipients.

In Shanghai, where China’s Communist Party was founded 100 years ago, signs of celebration are everywhere: Red buses ferry visitors to historical sites, billboards declare “Never Forget Why You Started” and skyscrapers are lit each night with the hammer and sickle.

Yet at a swanky hotel just a short walk away, the sense of triumph around the 100-year anniversary celebrated on July 1 wasn’t shared by a former senior editor at a state-backed media outlet. Speaking softly over breakfast, the journalist -- who asked not to be identified along with more than a dozen others Bloomberg spoke to for this article -- reeled off a list of challenges facing the party as it seeks to stay in power for another century and beyond.

What’s worse, he said, is that China has already reaped a lot of easy economic gains in the past few decades. The tougher policy changes that lie ahead will directly hit key power centers in the party, from state-owned enterprises to energy interests to the automobile sector.

“It’s a hard question: Can you reform yourself?” the editor said. “You need to surgically operate on yourself. Do you dare?”

Over the past century, perhaps the Communist Party’s greatest strength has been its ability to adapt and change. From the Long March that propelled Mao Zedong’s rise to Deng Xiaoping’s economic reforms following famines during the Cultural Revolution, leaders of the CCP have thrown ideology aside when necessary to stay in power.

While hailing the party’s many achievements, including overseeing an economic miracle that transformed China into a global power in just a few decades, the editor also noted some worrying trends. Under President Xi Jinping, who in 2017 declared China “stands tall and firm in the East,” the party has upended presidential succession norms, clamped down on internal discussion and seen a rising wealth gap prompt more young people to embrace “lying flat” -- effectively opting out of the rat race and adopting a minimalist lifestyle.

That pragmatism, particularly on economic policy, ushered in a wave of investment that helped gross domestic product grow nearly 50 times since Mao’s death in 1976. China’s economy is now poised to overtake that of the U.S. within the decade, eradicating extreme poverty and creating a new ultra-rich class: At the end of 2019, China had 5.8 million millionaires and 21,100 residents with wealth above $50 million -- more than any country except the U.S.

This wealth, however, also brought new risks for the party that Xi has sought to address since taking power in 2012. In studying the demise of the Soviet Communist Party, which lasted 74 years, Xi concluded that to weed out corrupt officials, China needed more ideological purity and a loyal military.

Beyond a popular anti-corruption campaign that also helped Xi consolidate power, he has also sought to entrench the party into all aspects of life, from education to social gatherings to the workplace. Local cells regularly hold “party-building” events consisting of chorus-singing, party-history contests and sessions to study Xi’s speeches.

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