Chinese President Xi Jinping officially began his precedent-breaking third term today by announcing a new leadership group that is composed of loyal allies.
China: President Xi Jinping’s third term and the Politburo Standing Committee
Xi Jinping heads three positions– Chief of China’s Communist Party, Head of the State and Chairman of China’s Central Military Commission.
With Xi Jinping being re-elected as general secretary, the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) announced its Politburo Standing Committee on Sunday. It serves as the Chinese equivalent of a president’s cabinet and sits at the highest top of the CCP.
The current Politburo Standing Committee (PSC), a seven-member body that represents the pinnacle of political authority in China, has been presented by the Chinese Communist Party.
This elite team, which was elected after a week-long Congress of the ruling government, is the ultimate decision authority in the nation. It is headed by the Secretary General of the CCP and China’s President Xi Jinping.
The team who will lead China over the next five years have officially been revealed by the Chinese Communist Party. All except two men—political theorist Wang Huning and head of the anti-corruption unit Zhao Leji—are newcomers to the team.
The new committee also excluded Premier Li Keqiang, Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference chairman Wang Yang. Many, if not all, are regarded as being Xi loyalists. This also for the first time in 25 years, that no woman was appointed to the Politburo, China’s top executive body.
https://cpc.people.com.cn/english/
China: Who are the members of the Politburo Standing Committee?
Li Qiang
Li Qiang, 63, currently the Party secretary of Shanghai, is Xi’s trusted ally. Despite the criticism of his team’s dealing with the Covid-19 outbreak in Shanghai, he is likely to become the next Premier, secondary in power to Xi.
Zhao Leji
Zhao Leji, 65, Head of the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection has had significant advancement in the Chinese leadership, becoming the youngest-ever governor at the age of 42. Zhao is in charge of upholding party discipline in his capacity as the anti-corruption body’s head. Over the years, he has brought bribery allegations against several high officials.
Wang Huning
Wang Huning, 67, First secretary of the Communist Party’s Secretariat, is a former scholar and professor, who has served as a consultant to president Jiang Zemin. Political theorist of the party, he had conceptualised several of the Communist Party’s ideas, including the Xi Jinping Thought.
Cai Qi
Cai Qi, 66, currently the Mayor of Beijing, is a close ally of Xi and has worked in the province of Fujian and Zhejiang. He earned achievements after administering the Winter Olympics despite the pandemic at its peak and was criticised heavily in 2017 for his efforts to curtail population in the capital, which forced many low-earning members to depart the city.
Ding Xuexiang
Ding Xuexiang, 60, is presently the Director of the Office of the General Secretary and Office of the President. An equipped engineer, in 2007, he became Xi’s secretary despite lacking experience. He has served as the head of the presidential office since 2014, essentially serving as Xi’s chief of staff. Also, one of Xi’s most trusted allies, he is an advocate of the Xi Jinping Thought.
Li Xi
Li Xi, 66, Party secretary of Guangdong province, is a Xi loyalist with close ties with the leader’s family. Li’s handling of the 2017 Liaoning province incident involving faked economic data has earned him a reputation as a crisis manager. In the politically important city of Yanan, where Mao Zedong housed the party during World War Two and where Xi served a seven-year sentence of hard labour, he served as the party chairman.
Li promoted economic reform and the growth of the IT sector in Guangdong. Additionally, he encouraged regional integration throughout the region and implemented new trade policies.
The National People’s Congress, where Mr Xi will be re-elected as president, will determine the standing committee members’ formal titles in the coming year.
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