Xi Jinping’s Drastic Change in Style: Two “Central Committees” Emerging in Zhongnanhai

U.S. President Donald Trump meets with Chinese President Xi Jinping on the sidelines of the APEC summit, in Busan

[People News] After the “Trump–Xi Meeting,” on his flight back to Washington aboard Air Force One, President Trump told reporters the meeting was “fantastic,” giving it a score of 12 out of 10, far exceeding a perfect grade—signaling his great satisfaction with the outcome.

So, what achievements did Trump gain that pleased him so much?

There were mainly three:

  1. Rare-earth exports: The CCP agreed to delay rare-earth export restrictions for at least one year and promised to continue supplying products essential to U.S. high-end manufacturing.

  2. Soybean purchases: China agreed to resume importing American soybeans, pledging to buy $500 billion worth of U.S. goods over three years.

  3. Fentanyl control: The CCP promised to take “further measures” on the fentanyl issue, which Trump regarded as a “major concession.”

Everyone likely remembers that only 20 days earlier, the CCP had suddenly and loudly announced rare-earth export controls, striking a defiant pose against the U.S. — a posture entirely in line with Xi Jinping’s personality and thinking. Yet, barely three weeks later, Beijing abruptly softened: not only agreeing to temporarily lift the restrictions, but also resuming soybean imports and cooperating on fentanyl control. Xi even declared during the meeting that China’s development and rejuvenation were not at odds with Trump’s goal of “Making America Great Again.”

This indicates a major shift in the CCP’s U.S. policy after the Fourth Plenary Session.

Careful readers will notice that this change also appears in other areas.

For instance, an important editorial by the CCP’s Xinhua News Agency on October 28 titled “The Motherland’s Unification Is Inevitable and Irresistible” showed a clear shift in tone on Taiwan propaganda.

  1. The editorial stated, “Both sides of the Strait should sit down and negotiate a reasonable ‘One Country, Two Systems’ Taiwan plan.” The word “reasonable” implies that things can be discussed—something Xi had never said so softly in the past decade.

  2. The entire piece avoided any mention of military means.

  3. For the first time since Xi took power, complete reunification was linked to “the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation,” implying that reunification must be completed by 2049 at the latest. Western observers and intelligence agencies had judged that Xi planned to take Taiwan by force by 2027. Yet this editorial, while asserting that unification “must” happen, gave no hint of a timeline.

So, here’s the key question: Are these post–Fourth Plenum policy changes Xi Jinping’s own ideas?

I think that’s unlikely. The whole world knows Xi is stubborn and obsessed with saving face. After he had just grandly announced rare-earth export controls, he immediately backed down when Trump wielded the tariff stick—this doesn’t seem like Xi’s usual way of doing things. Reunifying Taiwan is his ultimate dream; it’s improbable that his tone would shift so dramatically overnight.

If all this wasn’t decided by Xi, then it suggests that there are now two “Central Committees” in Zhongnanhai:
one is the “Central Committee with Xi Jinping at its core,” while the other is an unseen Central Committee behind it—the one that actually holds decision-making power.

Veteran journalist Guo Jun revealed, citing internal sources, that it was this new central power core that ordered the halt of the rare-earth export ban; otherwise, the U.S.–China trade talks could not have continued.

If that’s the case, then although Xi outwardly retained his titles—General Secretary, Chairman of the Central Military Commission, and President—after the Fourth Plenum, he may have lost real decision-making power, or his authority has been greatly weakened. On major issues, the one making decisions is no longer him, but someone else. Judging from the signs of power struggle in Zhongnanhai since last year’s Third Plenum, this possibility is entirely plausible.
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