Reading between the lines of a party boss’ speech as China’s power reshuffle looms

Guangdong Communist Party boss Hu Chunhua made a high-profile declaration of his political loyalty in front of the provincial party congress on Monday. He repeatedly mentioned President Xi Jinping in his nearly 100-minute speech, referring to him as the party’s core and stressing the importance of concepts earlier proposed by the state leader.

Hu’s speech comes ahead of China’s major leadership reshuffle this autumn, in which he stands a strong chance of being named as one of the handful of members to the country’s top decision-making body – the Politburo Standing Committee.

Why does it matter?

● Hu, at 54 and one of the youngest members of the 25-strong Politburo, is seen as a strong contender for a seat on its Standing Committee, the party’s innermost circle of power. With the five-yearly leadership reshuffle due in less than six months, his every move and statement is being closely watched.

● The provincial party congress is the last chance for him to be in the limelight ahead of the 19th party congress, after he kept a low profile throughout most of his rule in the southern province.

● Guangdong has been one of China’s economic powerhouses since the “reform and opening up” policy was launched nearly four decades ago, and its gross domestic output has ranked first among all provinces for 28 years. Its economic gravity is politically significant: it is one of the few provincial-level administrative regions whose party chief has an automatic ticket to the Politburo.

● The development of Guangdong also has big implications for Hong Kong, across the border from thriving Shenzhen. In recent years, Guangdong has been aggressively pushing for greater integration with Hong Kong, but so far has achieved limited results, partly due to growing fears that it will lose its high degree of autonomy and freedom. Hong Kong was handed back to China 20 years ago after being a British-run territory since 1841.