The upcoming 19th Party Congress in China, considered to be President Xi Jinping’s “midterm,” is fraught with risks and challenges for him. As Xi seeks to strengthen his hand by elevating his close supporters into the Politburo and its Standing Committee, the Party’s institutional rules and precedents require him to share power and patronage with other senior leaders. Will Xi follow the rules and preside over a normal collective process or will he flout the rules in order to consolidate his position as the core leader? To help us understand what has transpired under Xi’s rule in the past five years and how the 19th Party Congress could reshape China’s political landscape, the 21st Century China Center has assembled a team of UC San Diego’s leading experts on Chinese politics to address a series of issues related to the 19th Party Congress. Speakers:

• Tai Ming Cheung, Director, UC Institute on Global Conflict and Cooperation; Associate Professor, School of Global Policy and Strategy, UC San Diego
• Barry Naughton, Sokwanlok Professor of Chinese International Affairs, School of Global Policy and Strategy, UC San Diego
• Margaret Roberts, Assistant Professor, Department of Political Science, UC San Diego
• Victor Shih, Associate Professor, School of Global Policy and Strategy, UC San Diego
• Susan Shirk, Chair of 21st Century China Center, School of Global Policy and Strategy, UC San Diego

• Susan V. Lawrence, Specialist in Asian Affairs, Congressional Research Service