Rare accolade puts Xi’s Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics into Communist charter and sets him on course for indefinite spell in power 
 
 Xi Jinping becomes most powerful leader since Mao with China's change to constitution 
 
 Xi Jinping has been consecrated as China’s most powerful leader since Mao Zedong after a new body of political thought carrying his name was added to the Communist party’s constitution. [Xi Jinping and six other men will rule China, but women are left behind] 
 
 "The amendment of the party constitution effectively confirms Xi Jinping's aspiration to be the Mao Zedong of the 21st century — that means a top leader with no constraints on tenure or retirement age," said Willy Wo-Lap Lam, a political expert at the Chinese University of Hong Kong. [Latest: China’s Xi Jinping unveils his top party leaders, with no successor in sight] 
 
 The unanimous vote to enshrine "Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics in a New Era" in the constitution came on the final day of a week-long party congress, a gathering of the party elite held every five years in the imposing and cavernous Great Hall of the People on the western side of Beijing's Tiananmen Square. The inclusion of Xi's name in the party document makes him only the third Chinese leader to be so honored, with his ideology joining Marxism-Leninism, Mao Zedong Thought and Deng ­Xiaoping Theory as a "guide to action." An even clearer indication of whether he is set on staying in power should come on Wednesday morning when Xi introduces China’s new top ruling council, the politburo standing committee, during a fiercely choreographed piece of political theatre that signals the start of his second term. Previous Chinese Communist Party leaders have had their ideologies incorporated into the party's constitution or thinking, but none, besides founder Mao Zedong, have had their philosophy described as "thought", which is at the top of the ideological hierarchy. Deng Xiaoping, the architect of China’s economic opening, also boasts a school of eponymous ideology in the party charter, Deng Xiaoping Theory, but that was included only after his death in 1997. Bill Bishop, the publisher of the Sinocism newsletter on Chinese politics, said the birth of Xi Jinping Thought confirmed the rare levels of power and prestige enjoyed by its creator.  China's Communist Party formally elevated President Xi Jinping to the same status as party legends Mao Zedong and Deng Xiaoping on Tuesday, writing his name into its constitution and setting up the nation's leader for an extended stay in power. “General Secretary Xi Jinping is … the party’s helmsman,” he gushed, deploying a term famously used to hail Mao.
– Prepare to hear the name Xi Jinping for years to come as a main player on the world stage. China's Communist Party on Tuesday made a rare constitutional move that elevates Xi to the status of Mao Zedong and sets the stage for him to rule indefinitely. Specifically, the party enshrined Xi's ideology, dubbed "Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics in a New Era," into the constitution, meaning it will be taught in schools from now on, reports the Guardian. He is only the third Chinese leader to receive the honor, after Mao and Deng Xioping, notes the Washington Post. Technically, Xi is only formally beginning his second five-year term as party secretary, but the move and the accolades he has received all week seemingly guarantee his long-term status. "The amendment of the party constitution effectively confirms Xi Jinping's aspiration to be the Mao Zedong of the 21st century—that means a top leader with no constraints on tenure or retirement age," says an expert at the Chinese University of Hong Kong. So what is Xi Jinping Thought? The BBC explains that while it smacks of "vague rhetoric," it contains 14 principles that Xi has long espoused, including a call for "complete and deep reform" and a pledge of "harmonious living between man and nature." Carrie Gracie of the BBC writes that the "new era" part of Xi's ideology is significant. This would be modern China's third. The first was Mao "uniting a country devastated by civil war," the second was Deng making the nation rich, and "this new era is about even more unity and wealth at the same time as making China disciplined at home and strong abroad." (Xi spoke for more than 3 hours last week. Here's what he said.)