Move to extend Chinese leader's role fuels business anxiety

Joe McDonald and Paul Wiseman, The Associated Press</span>
Published Tuesday, February 27, 2018 4:39AM EST

BEIJING - The ruling Communist Party's move to let leader Xi Jinping remain China's president indefinitely is fuelling anxiety that Beijing might be undermining reforms needed to keep its economy healthy.

Businesspeople and economists see a slide toward one-man rule under Xi, already China's most dominant figure since the 1980s, and away from impartial institutions needed to support private businesses that generate new jobs and wealth.

Private sector analysts expect little short-term impact from the party's decision to eliminate the constitution's term limits for the presidency. But they say concentrating more power in Xi's hands could hamper business and chill investment by making China's economy more unpredictable and less able to respond to challenges.

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