If you're catching up now, here are a few of the questions we've covered today:
And we'll have more updates over the weekend as the results are announced.
Interesting one, thanks Tony. Bang Xiao has this answer for you:
"Chinese people refer to Xi's faction as "the princelings". This is because many of them are the children of senior officials from the Mao era.
They are believed to be the conservative wing.
In opposition to this is the reformist faction within the CCP.
One of the most well-known reformers was Deng Xiaoping, who designated economic reform and opened China up to the rest of the world in the 1980s.
However, the reformists are not pro-democracy. Deng hoped to boost China's economy and raise living standards, but he was also responsible for the military crackdown on Tiananmen protesters in 1989.
Today's CCP operates more opaquely under Xi's leadership.
Xi amended China's constitution by removing term limits on the presidency in 2018.
This essentially overturned the checks and balances that Deng left in the party."
If you missed it, a protester appeared to have been pulled into the grounds of the Chinese consulate in Manchester and beaten — all on the first day of this congress.
We've had Jiang Yun take a look at this for you Leon (and thanks for the question):
"Embassy and consular grounds are still subject to the law where they are hosted. This means ambassadors and consular staff in the UK must still obey the UK law.
However, under some circumstances, they are immune from prosecution and punishment for breaking the law.
Depending on the severity of their offences, the government may choose to take some actions.
For example, the government can choose to expel the offending diplomats. This can sometimes result in tit-for-tat from the other country.
The government could also choose not to take any actions, as Australia does with unpaid speeding fines by diplomats in Canberra."
Thanks for this one John, Stephen Dziedzic has this for you:
"I’ll paraphrase Tony Jones here – “I’ll take that as a comment!” It’s certainly hard to imagine any country on the planet launching a full-scale invasion of China, although it’s worth noting that in recent years there have been several violent flare-ups between India and China along their Himalayan border.
Beijing likes to point out that the United States maintains a vast network of overseas military bases, including in several countries near China (including in South Korea and Japan) and in the US island territory of Guam.
China argues that the US is trying to encircle or “hem in” China with these bases. And of course Beijing has engaged in a massive military build up not just because it wants to equip itself with the forces it would need to seize Taiwan, but also to give itself the capacity to defeat US forces in the region in the event they come to Taiwan’s aid.
More broadly, China has also made it clear it does not want the US to maintain a military presence in Asia – as Xi Jinping once said, “it is for the people of Asia to run the affairs of Asia, solve the problems of Asia and uphold the security of Asia.”
But several other Asian nations are uneasy about the prospect of Chinese military hegemony in the region and would like the US to stay in the region in order to maintain a strategic balance, however uneasy.
How will all this play out? You’d be brave to make any confident predictions. But expect China to press ahead full speed with military modernisation and expansion under Xi Jinping."
Let's talk a bit more about what it's like for ordinary people, Bang Xiao has more:
"In China, the Party Congress does not attract much attention from ordinary people, despite the overwhelming propaganda across Chinese media.
Most party discussions happen behind closed doors and many items on the congress' to-do list are already pre-determined by the top leaders.
Meetings are more symbolic than substantive.
The general public knows there's not much that can be done and tend to disengage.
Those most concerned are the grassroots party members, government representatives and businesspeople who may have close ties with the party.
As for Taiwanese, Hongkonger, and Uyghur groups, most of them don't have a clue about how the party works."
Good question, a few people have asked this one. Bang Xiao has the answer:
"Hi Tammy, the short answer is no.
In the history of modern China, we have yet to see a Chinese leader step down because of public discontent.
Previously, we have seen some Chinese leaders step down because of inner-party rivalry.
But this is extremely rare and hasn't been seen in the last 73 years.
Chinese people cannot vote for their national leaders, nor can they have a say in the removal of the CCP's general secretary."
Deng Yuwen, former editor of China's People's Daily, told the ABC this is an important moment for Xi:
"It will be revealed soon whether Xi will be re-elected to the 20th National Congress, and if Xi is not re-elected, his political career will be over," Mr Deng said.
Mr Deng says that because Xi has so much personal power, his views, policies and course of governance will be critical to China and the world’s future.
You can read a bit more on what he said (and why this year's meeting is so important) here:
We'll ask Bang Xiao to answer this:
"The retirement age for CCP’s top leaders is usually 68.
So in theory this year *should* have been Chinese president Xi Jinping's moment to step back (he's 69 now).
But he has signalled his plan to remain in power for quite some time yet — and the world is expecting him to make it clear he’ll continue in the president role at a different meeting — China's National People's Congress — in March 2023. "
And although they sound similar, that congress is *not* the same as the one we're talking about now.
The National People's Congress meets annually and is the highest organ of state power — where the CCP holds two-thirds of the seats, so who runs the CCP ultimately sets the direction for the entire country.
This is one for the ABC's Asia Pacific reporter Stephen Dziedzic:
"It's difficult to predict exactly what a third Xi term means for our region. But the broad consensus among most China watchers is that Beijing is likely to pursue an increasingly confrontational foreign policy.
For example, Xi Jinping has made it clear that what he calls the "great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation" cannot be considered complete until China achieves "full reunification" — which means seizing control of Taiwan.
Some senior figures in the Biden administration have warned that China may move to invade Taiwan before the decade is out.
Just this week the US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said that Beijing was pursuing its plan to annex Taiwan on a "much faster timeline" although he didn't nominate any specific dates.
It's worth noting that there is no consensus on this point: some experts and analysts remain deeply sceptical that Beijing will be willing to roll the dice and attempt a full-scale military invasion in coming years. The risks remain vast.
But Xi does seem to see himself – or at least present himself — as a man entrusted with a historical mission. That might well make conflict more likely, rather than less."
The ABC's East Asia correspondent Bill Birtles has taken this one for us:
"I tend to believe Xi enjoys majority approval and support in China, but the last 12 months in particular the gloss has really come off his leadership due to the COVID Zero policy and a faltering economy.
He’d be copping it left, right and centre for these problems if he was leading an open democracy.
But instead, his army of censors and security police are censoring and suppressing critical voices, so we don’t really know how genuinely popular he currently is."