- Masisi met with Chinese Communist Party’s 7th highest ranking member Li Xi
- Politburo Standing Committee is China’s second chain of command
- It is second only to India’s Bharatiya Janata Party in size of membership
BONGANI MALUNGA
President Mokgweetsi Masisi’s meeting with the seventh highest ranking member of the Chinese Communist Party’s Politburo Standing Committee, Li Xi, was not politically motivated, the Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, Dr Lemogang Kwape, has said.
Masisi met Li Xi on the margins of the 2024 Forum on China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC) in Beijing, China last week.
Botswana elections
The President met Li Xi – who is the Communist Party’s head of the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection – and briefed him on the upcoming elections in Botswana before holding talks with Chinese President Xi Jinping later during the conference while Li Xi committed to continuing to advance the two nations’ cooperation.
According to Minister Kwape, President Masisi’s meeting with Li Xi was a courtesy call that was extended by the Chinese government. “The Chinese government always extends such courtesies to the Botswana government,” he said in an interview.
“It is important to note that the Politburo Standing Committee of the Chinese Communist Party ranks higher than the nation’s cabinet. It is important for us to get an understanding of the inner workings of the Chinese government as we continue our bilateral cooperation.”
Main power branch
The Politburo Standing Committee is regarded as the country’s top decision-making structure because it forms part of an exclusive group of advisers to President Jinping, who is the General Secretary of the party and the select committee.
The committee is the main power branch of the Chinese Communist Party that makes up the ruling council that is key to Jinping’s policies. Its members are responsible for deciding the party’s political, social and economic strategic approach.
They also play a major role in legislation as they perform the country’s cabinet duties.
97 million registered members
Members of the committee are Jinping, Li Qiang, Zhao Leji, Wang Huning, Cai Qi, Ding Xuexiang and Li Xi. They are the second chain of command in the world’s second largest political party by membership that has 97 million registered members.
The party is surpassed only by India’s Bharatiya Janata Party, which has 170 million members.