Today, celebrations for the 100th anniversary of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) are being held in Beijing. President Xi Jinping delivered a fiery speech stressing the Party's role in the achievement of the country's "national rejuvenation" and opposing foreign interference in China's rise. The Centenary has been highly anticipated since Xi decided to link China’s political and economic goals to central moments throughout the country’s political history, thus charging these events with an operational connotation on top of a purely symbolic one.
What does the Centenary tell us about the Party’s role in the country’s current political and economic life? Should the Party be considered an ‘international’ as well as a ‘domestic’ actor? Which legacy has Maoism left for today’s China within the international arena?
