Xi Jinping is growing more elusive

Each August, the most powerful man in the world drops from view. Chinese President Xi Jinping will probably leave Beijing this week and join senior officials at the beach resort of Beidaihe, three hours east of the capital, for a summer retreat. Communist Party grandees have gathered in its villas since the days of Mao Zedong. Even so, extended absences can stir heady speculation outside China about the leader’s grip on power.

The 2025 summer conclave will reflect Mr Xi’s stunning success in remaking the party’s top ranks: the old guard are dead, senile or sidelined and loyalists reign. China’s paramount leader appears to have no serious rivals; he guides the world’s second-biggest economy and its largest armed forces seemingly unchallenged.