Chinese leaders issue official history to elevate Xi

By JOE McDONALD
Associated Press

BEIJING (AP) — Leaders of China’s ruling Communist Party have set the stage for President Xi Jinping to extend his rule next year, praising his role in China’s rise as an economic and strategic power and approving a political history that gives him status alongside the most important party figures. Central Committee members declared Xi’s ideology the essence of Chinese culture as they wrapped up a leadership meeting. In unusually effusive language even for a Chinese leader, a party statement says it was of decisive significance for the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation. Xi has amassed more personal authority than any leader since at least Deng Xiaoping in the 1980s. He’s been expected to pursue a third five-year term as party general secretary, breaking with tradition.