On Sunday, the 23rd of October, China’s Xi Jinping secured a record-breaking third term in office. It unveiled a new top governing body filled with allies, solidifying his position as the nation’s most powerful leader since Mao Zedong.
Following Xi onto the stage at the Great Hall of the People as the new Politburo Standing Committee was unveiled, Shanghai Communist Party chairman Li Qiang was next in line to succeed Li Keqiang when the premier stepped down in March.
The remaining seven members of the Standing Committee are Cai Qi, Ding Xuexiang, and Li Xi, in addition to Zhao Leji and Wang Huning. They are returning from the previous committee. Additionally, new to the Standing Committee is Li Qiang.
Analysts believe that all are closely loyal to Xi, the son of a Communist Party revolutionary who, since assuming power in 2012, has led China in a more authoritarian direction, revealed Reuters.
More definitive than many knowledgeable observers had predicted, the outcome was a stunning success for Xi, according to Richard McGregor, senior fellow for East Asia at the Sydney-based Lowy Institute think tank.
One day after the Communist Party’s 20th Congress ended, the Standing Committee and the larger 24-member Politburo were unveiled. At the congress, changes to the party charter were made to solidify further Xi’s position as the party’s de facto leader and the driving force behind his political philosophy.
Even so, the second-largest economy in the world is slowing down, and anger with the 69-year-old Xi’s zero-COVID policy is rising. With Xi’s backing for Putin in Russia and increasing tensions over Taiwan, China’s distance from the West is also growing.
A clear successor to Xi, whose predecessor Hu Jintao was unceremoniously hauled out of the congress closing ceremony on Saturday, is not included in the new lineup, as was expected. Meanwhile, Li Qiang’s 63-year-old ascent to position two emphasizes the significance of ties to Xi.
Ding Xuexiang, Xi’s secretary and gatekeeper, is another new member of the Standing Committee and is the youngest at 60 years old. Ding is the powerful General Office’s chief of the party Central Committee, which oversees the top leadership’s administrative issues.
Having worked alongside Xi for 20 years in Fujian and Zhejiang coastal provinces, Cai Qi, 66, who previously served as Beijing’s party chief, joins the Standing Committee.
The fourth newcomer is Li Xi, 66, the party chairman of the economically dominant Guangdong province. Although they do not have a shared history of collaboration like the other three, observers believe Li and Xi are ideologically similar.
The announcement follows Li Keqiang and Wang Yang’s exclusion from the larger Central Committee. Analysts considered them relative moderates who were still young enough to serve for a longer time in key decision-making organizations. Both connect to the Communist Youth League, a formerly powerful organization that observers claim has lost influence under Xi.
Hu Chunhua, a vice premier with Youth League roots which some party observers had viewed as a candidate for the premiership, was also noticeably absent from Sunday’s launch. The Politburo, which currently has 24 members, one fewer than usual, was not chosen to re-elect Hu, 59. Women are also absent from the Politburo. Sun Chunlan, the only female member of the previous Politburo, retired.
By removing the two-term restriction for the presidency in 2018, Xi created the conditions for his leadership to last longer than ten years. At the annual legislative session in March, when the new premier will be formally announced, his time as president is expected to be extended.