The rise of the Xi gang: A closer look at factional politics in the Chinese Communist Party Any attempt to comprehend elite politics in China requires an understanding of the factional dynamics within the party Srijan Shukla February 15, 2021 09:22:11 IST File image of Chinese president Xi Jinping. AP
As the global debate on the Chinese model, and especially its domestic political system intensifies, there is a tendency to regard the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) as a monolith. This paper corrects such a view and argues that any attempt to comprehend elite politics in China requires an understanding of the factional dynamics within the party. The paper outlines the evolution of factional politics in China, and shows how two factions – the Shanghai Gang and the Chinese Communist Youth League (CCYL) – have dominated the country’s politics over the past