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Former Chinese president Hu Jintao escorted out of party congress as Xi Jinping looks on | ABC News AU |

Search results for "Hu Jintao" on the Twitter-like Weibo platform appeared to be heavily censored Saturday afternoon, with the most recent result dated Friday and posts limited to those of official accounts.

Xi is all but assured of being formally announced on Sunday as the party's general secretary for another five years. 

This will allow Xi to sail through to a third term as China's president, due to be announced during the government's annual legislative sessions in March. 

Since taking over from Hu a decade ago, Xi has become China's most authoritarian leader since Mao Zedong. 

Xi has crushed opposition to his rule inside the party, with many of his rivals jailed on corruption charges, and he has shown no tolerance for any form of public dissent.