China's Communist Party gave President Xi Jinping the title of "core" leader on Thursday, putting him on par with past strongmen like Mao Zedong and Deng Xiaoping, but it signaled his power would not be absolute.
A lengthy communique released by the party following a four-day, closed-door meeting of senior officials in Beijing stressed maintaining the importance of collective leadership.
The collective leadership system "must always be followed and should not be violated by any organization or individual under any circumstance or for any reason," it said.