SEE PICS: Xi Jinping addresses 19th National Congress of the Communist Party of China; Junks any talk of reforms

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Chinese President Xi Jinping on Wednesday addressed more than 2,000 delegates in Beijing's cavernous Great Hall of the People, including 91-year-old former president Jiang Zemin. Jinping opened a critical Communist Party Congress with a pledge to build a modern socialist country for a new era that will be proudly Chinese, steadfastly ruled by the party but open to the world.

2/12

Xi Jinping's wide-ranging speech, which ran for nearly three-and-a-half hours, laid out a confident vision for an increasingly prosperous China and its place in the world, stressing the importance of wiping out corruption, but notably made it amply clear there were no plans for political reform. (Reuters)

3/12

The twice-a-decade congress, a week-long, mostly closed-door conclave, will culminate in the selection of a new Politburo Standing Committee that will rule China's 1.4 billion people for the next five years with Xi expected to consolidate his grasp on power. (Reuters)

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Xi promised, in what was likely an indirect reference to U.S. President Donald Trump's "America first" policy, that China would be fully engaged with the world, and reiterated pledges to tackle climate change. (Reuters)

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A general view shows delegates attending the opening of the 19th National Congress of the Communist Party of China at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing. (Reuters)

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Xi envisioned China developing into a "basically" modernised socialist country by 2035, becoming one of the world's most innovative countries with the income gap between urban and rural residents significantly reduced, and its environmental woes fundamentally eliminated. (Reuters)

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Xi on Wednesday urged a reinvigorated Communist Party to take on a more forceful role in society and economic development to better address "grim" challenges facing the country as he opened a twice-a-decade national congress. (Associated Press)

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Ushers prepare themselves for photos at the Tiananmen Square during the opening of the 19th National Congress of the Communist Party of China at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing. (Reuters)

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China's political system was the broadest, most genuine, and most effective way to safeguard the fundamental interests of the people, said Xi, who has overseen a sweeping crackdown on civil society, locking up rights lawyers and dissidents. (Reuters)

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Former Chinese President Jiang Zemin, left uses a magnifying glass to look at documents near Chinese Premier Li Keqiang during the opening ceremony of the 19th Party Congress held at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing. (Associated Press)

11/12

Xi Jinping made no mention of neighbouring North Korea, which has reportedly angered Beijing with repeated nuclear and ballistic missile tests in defiance of U.N. sanctions and which sent a congratulatory message ahead of the meeting. (Associated Press)

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A man watches a broadcast of Chinese President Xi Jinping delivering his speech during the opening of the 19th National Congress of the Communist Party of China, at an electronics store in Liuzhou. (Reuters)