Chinese universities race to establish Xi Jinping Thought institutes to help leader’s ideas ‘enter students’ hearts and minds’
At least 20 higher education institutions have already set up research bodies that will promote Communist Party chief’s dogma
Xi Jinping Thought will now be taught, researched and promoted in universities across China, in the hope of ensuring that the leader’s eponymous philosophy is implanted into students’ hearts and minds.
At least 20 universities have established research institutes for Xi’s ideology, which was enshrined in the Communist Party’s constitution during its 19th national congress this month.
The distinction places Xi on a par with Mao Zedong and Deng Xiaoping. It means that his dogma – “Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era” – will become a mantra for a new generation.
According to media reports on Sunday, the research institutes will not “hide in the ivory tower” but advocate the incorporation of Xi thought in all aspects of daily life.
“We will gather many experts and professors to disseminate and preach Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era in businesses, neighbourhoods and villages,” Jiang Hongxin, head of Hunan Normal University’s newly founded Xi Thought research centre, told People’s Daily, the party mouthpiece.