Chinese president Xi Jinping emerged from a pivotal Communist Party meeting on Tuesday on par with Mao Zedong, the autocratic leader who founded the People’s Republic of China in 1949.
The 19th National Congress, a major leadership reshuffle event, wrapped up Oct. 24 with an amendment to the party’s constitution that saw Xi’s name added to the document (link in Chinese) along with a signature policy that will guide the party in the years to come.
Recent Communist leaders have seen their theories added to the constitution—but not their names. Until today, only Mao and Deng Xiaoping, who opened up China’s economy during the 1980s, enjoyed that honor. The addition of the phrase—“Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era”—elevates the already enormously powerful Xi to the same status as the country’s most revered leaders.