The national congress of China's Communist Party began on Sunday in Beijing. President Xi Jinping is expected to secure an unprecedented third term as party leader.

Officials announced Saturday that the twice-a-decade political congress would run for 7 days and close on October 22. They say the new leadership is expected to be officially launched as early as the following day.

The Communist Party exercises one-party rule over China and its population of around 1.4 billion people. It has nearly 100 million members. But only seven are part of the Political Bureau's Standing Committee, which is the party's leadership. Xi Jinping heads the group as general secretary.

A third term for Xi would mean breaking one of the party's unwritten rules. Members of the Standing Committee are expected to step down at the age of 68. Xi turned 69 this year.

But experts say Xi is presenting himself as a historic leader who is above traditional norms. At a ceremony last year marking the centenary of the party's founding, he dressed in a similar suit to the one Mao Zedong is wearing in his portrait in Beijing's Tiananmen Square. Some say Xi did so to draw comparisons with Mao, who is considered China's founding father.