Chinese President Xi Jinping said it has been a “remarkable five years” for China as it has made achievements in many areas, but the world’s second largest economy remains the “largest developing country”.

Delivering his closely watched work report at the start of the 19th Communist Party Congress, Mr Xi said China is now a major innovation country, with many technological breakthroughs, and its soft power has grown in the past five years.

At the party congress, Mr Xi’s political ideas will be written into the party Constitution and will bear his name, unlike those of his two predecessors.

“For Xi Jinping’s name to be included in the Constitution will have huge symbolism,” said analyst Hoo Tiang Boon of the S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies. “At the very least, it will represent that he has a higher stature than Jiang Zemin and Hu Jintao, and symbols matter a lot in a society like China.”

“It would represent a further consolidation of his power,” he added.