Lining up a list of losses and leads

IN three years, the Communist Party of China (CPC) will celebrate its centenary - the year by which the Chinese government promised to build China into a "moderately prosperous society". Since its founding in 1921, the CPC has profoundly shaped the destiny of Chinese civilisation, and the Party Congress has been paramount in plotting the country's course. The Third Plenum of the 13th Party Congress in 1978, for example, effectively consolidated Deng Xiaoping's power, allowing the country to "reform and open up''.

China has since enjoyed unprecedented economic growth, catapulting the Chinese economy from obscurity into a major global power. Over the past 40 years, seven Party Congresses have ushered in three generations of leaders: Jiang Zemin, Hu Jintao and current president Xi Jinping.

The Party Congress is theoretically the highest body within the CPC. Despite being a one-party state, China still has political cycles, which turn every five years, and the Party Congress marks the critical turning point of this cycle.