China’s Premier Li Keqiang and his ally Wang Yang will retire from the Communist Party leadership committee, paving the way for Xi Jinping to take full control of his cabinet.
Li and Wang were left off the list of 205 members of the Central Committee, which make up the 25-member Politburo and the seven-member Politburo Standing Committee.
Chinese Premier Li Keqiang, left, and President Xi Jinping attend the closing ceremony of the 20th National Congress of China’s ruling Communist Party at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing.Credit:AP
The list was announced on Saturday – a day before Xi is expected to be appointed as China’s leader for a third term and be elevated to “people’s leader” or “Chairman”. Xi, 69, was named on the list, confirming he will continue to lead China despite being past the retirement age of 68.
In controversial scenes on Saturday, former President Hu Jintao was escorted from the Great Hall of the People just as Xi was preparing to speak. Hu, who was seated next to Xi was held by two officials and pointed towards the exit, but the 79-year-old appeared reluctant to leave and spoke to both Xi and Li as he made his way towards the door.
Li Zhanshu, the Chairman of the National People’s Congress moved to help the former President but was urged to sit down by the Party’s ideological chief, Wang Huning.
Hu has been known to be in ill health but his resistance to leaving in front of more than 2000 delegates and reporters was an unusual break from the highly choreographed National Party Congress. The other members of the congress stared straight as he was escorted from the hall.
Former Chinese President Hu Jintao, centre, is shuffled away.Credit:AP
Following Li and Wang’s retirements Xi will now have room to appoint key allies to his seven-man standing committee to be announced on Sunday. Li was the leader of the Communist Youth League faction – which has historically balanced Xi’s more conservative or “control” faction in the Chinese cabinet.
Li, 67, who has a PhD in economics and Wang both favoured more liberal economic policies. Wang, who belongs to the same faction, was seen as a compromise candidate to replace Li but has also been pushed out despite not reaching the formal retirement age.
Xi’s chief of staff Ding Xuexiang and his proteges Li Qiang, Li Xi and Chen Min’er are the top candidates to come into the Standing Committee.
The group of seven men have historically been a consultative body for the Chinese leader, but power has been increasingly concentrated around Xi during his ten years in power. Xi’s third term cabinet is expected to be the first time since Mao Zedong’s dictatorship that there is not a 3-4 split between the more liberal and control factions.
The National Party Congress on Saturday also passed resolutions that cemented Xi’s place as “the core” of the Party.
The party approved Xi’s “Two Safeguards” and the “Two Establishes” – which will see “Xi Jinping Thought” guide the Party’s philosophical, security and economic direction for the next generation.
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