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Visitors at the museum of the First National Congress of the Chinese Communist Party during a media tour in Shanghai on June 22.

Visitors at the museum of the First National Congress of the Chinese Communist Party during a media tour in Shanghai on June 22.

Photographer: Hector Retamal/AFP/Getty Images

Politics

China’s Communists Face Daunting Future as Party Marks 100 Years

President Xi Jinping looks stronger than ever, but succession questions and growing apathy among China’s youth are looming challenges 

Bloomberg News
Updated on

In Shanghai, where China’s Communist Party was founded 100 years ago, signs of celebration are everywhere: Red buses ferry visitors to historical sites, billboards declare “Never Forget Why You Started” and skyscrapers are lit each night with the hammer and sickle.

Next to the modest two-story building where the First Party Congress was held, a state-of-the-art museum draws large crowds jostling to take selfies while waving party flags and chanting the admission oath. “You guys need to take a hard look at how great our country is,” said one woman waiting to get inside.