China’s top leader Xi Jinping is set to begin a norm-breaking third term with an even greater concentration of power, after retiring key party leaders from the top ruling body to make room for his own allies.
The week-long Communist Party Congress concluded Saturday with the ushering in of a new Central Committee – the party’s 200-member central leadership – which will in turn select a new slate of top leaders on Sunday.
Premier Li Keqiang and Wang Yang – neither of whom is seen to have close ties with Xi – are not included in the new Central Committee, meaning they have left China’s top ruling body and will go into full retirement.
Xi is widely expected to be appointed the party’s general secretary for another five years on Sunday, paving the way for potential lifelong rule. At 69, he has exceeded the informal retirement age of 68 for senior party leaders. Xi’s name is included in the list of new Central Committee members.
Li and Wang are both 67 and eligible to serve another five years on the party’s supreme Politburo Standing Committee under retirement norms. Instead, they are retiring early from the party’s apex of power, in a break with precedents in recent decades.
Li, China’s second-highest ranking leader, is required to step down in March as premier by the country’s constitution, which only allows the premier to serve two terms. Wang, who heads the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference, was previously seen by some as a potential successor to Li.
