China’s Xi Further Cements Power as Party Congress Closes

China’s ruling Communist Party wrapped up its twice-a-decade congress on Saturday, cementing Xi Jinping’s iron grip on power and revealing a new Central Committee missing two key officials lacking close ties to the leader.

Xi, 69, is “poised to clinch a third five-year leadership term as party general secretary, breaking with precedent and solidifying his place as China’s most powerful ruler” since Mao Zedong, the founding leader of the People’s Republic.

The new leadership will be unveiled at around noon (0400 GMT) on Sunday when Xi walks into a room of journalists at the Great Hall of the People, followed by the other members of the new Standing Committee in descending order of rank.

In an unusual moment during the closing ceremony, former President Hu Jintao, seated next to Xi, was escorted off the stage. ‘Looking distressed,’ Hu, 79, appeared to resist leaving as stewards escorted him out. He had looked “slightly unsteady” last Sunday when he was assisted onto the same stage.

Week-Long Congress
The party’s new 205-member Central Committee, elected by delegates at the end of the week-long congress, did not include outgoing Premier Li Keqiang or former Guangdong party boss Wang Yang, who had been seen as a ”potential replacement” as premier.

Analysts said “their omissions were signs the powerful Politburo Standing Committee, to be revealed on Sunday, is likely to be stacked with people close to Xi.”

Li, who will step down in March as premier, and Wang, who heads the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference, are both 67 and therefore eligible under China’s age norms to serve another five years on the Standing Committee, which currently has seven members.

Neither is seen to have long-standing ties with Xi, who is likely to bring four new faces onto the Standing Committee, according to analysts and media reports.

Reuters /Shakirat Sadiq