China’s Xi Jinping Hails Communist Party’s ‘Self-Revolution’ in Bid to Extend Rule

HONG KONG—Chinese leader Xi Jinping shook off concerns over Covid-19, a sluggish economy and troubled ties with the U.S. to offer a robust defense of his decadelong rule, calling on his Communist Party to battle through adversity and reclaim China’s place as a major force in human development.

In a Sunday speech, opening a Communist Party congress in Beijing where he is set to defy recent norms and claim a third term as party chief, Mr. Xi recalled his efforts to curb corruption, rally public support for the party and champion China’s political system as a counterweight to Western liberal democracy.