Chinese President Xi Jinping has unveiled the new lineup for the Communist Party’s all-powerful Politburo Standing Committee (PBSC), after securing his own leadership for the next five years.
There are five new faces in the seven-member committee, which was announced Wednesday in an elaborate ceremony in Beijing’s Great Hall of the People.
Xi and Premier Li Keqiang were joined by: Li Zhanshu, Wang Yang, Wang Huning, Zhao Leji and Han Zheng.
The announcement follows the end of the Communist Party National Congress, the biggest event in China’s political calendar, which is held every five years.
“Over the past five years we have set out a broad agenda, some tasks have been completed while others need more work,” Xi said after introducing the new committee.
“With decades of hard work, socialism with Chinese characteristics has entered a new era,” he said, in an apparent reference to Xi Jinping Thought, which was enshrined in the party’s constitution on Tuesday, only the second time in history a living Chinese leader has had their authority recognized in this way.
No heir apparent
The new committee does not contain an obvious successor to Xi, breaking with tradition and indicating he may seek to remain in power past 2022 when his second term ends.
All the new members are 60 or above. Zhao Leji, the youngest new member, will be 65 years in 2022, three years off the informal retirement age for top officials. Xi was 54 when he joined the standing committee in 2007.
“(Xi) will remain in some form of power probably until he dies,” said James McGregor, author of “No Ancient Wisdom, No Followers: The Challenges of Chinese Authoritarian Capitalism.”
He pointed to Deng Xiaoping, who retired from official positions but remained “paramount leader” until his death in 1997.
“Xi Jinping will (likely) stay on as party secretary and then party chairman, and someone else will be become president,” McGregor said. “We’re into a new game here.”
Anti-corruption campaign
Zhao inherits one of the most powerful roles in Chinese politics, becoming head of the party’s anti-corruption task force, state media reported Wednesday.
He replaces Wang Qishan, Xi’s right-hand man in the graft crackdown, who some had expected to stay on despite being above the retirement age.
Tackling graft and corruption has been a major priority of Xi’s and his investigators have taken down many high ranking officials, though some analysts have said the campaign is more about neutering potential opponents and score settling rather than actually rooting out bad apples.
“Exercising full and rigorous governance over the party is a journey for which there is no end,” Xi said Wednesday.
“We must continue to rid ourselves of any virus that erodes the party’s fabric.”