China’s Communist Party has voted to enshrine Xi Jinping’s ideology in its constitution, elevating him to the same level as founder Mao Zedong.
The unanimous vote to write in “Xi Jinping Thought” happened at the end of the Communist Party congress, China’s most important political meeting.
Mr Xi has steadily increased his grip on power since becoming leader in 2012.
This move means that any challenge to Mr Xi will now be seen as a threat to Communist Party rule.
The congress began last week with a three-hour speech by Mr Xi where he first introduced his philosophy called “socialism with Chinese characteristics in a new era”.
Top officials and state media then began repeatedly mentioning this ideology, calling it “Xi Jinping Thought”, in a sign that Mr Xi had cemented his influence over the Party.
Previous Chinese Communist Party leaders have had their ideologies incorporated into the party’s constitution or thinking, but none, besides founder Mao Zedong, have had their philosophy described as “thought”, which is at the top of the ideological hierarchy.
Only Mao and Deng Xiaoping have had their names attached to their ideologies.
