CNN
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Chinese leader Xi Jinping has formally stepped into his third term ruling China with an iron grip on power, as he revealed a top leadership body stacked with allies, breaking with recent precedent to secure another five years in power.
On Sunday, following the close of the Communist Party Congress, seven men – namely Xi Jinping, Li Qiang, Zhao Leji, Wang Huning, Cai Qi, Li Xi and Ding Xuexiang – were appointed members of the Politburo Standing Committee, China’s top ruling body.
They now compose the Politburo Standing Committee, China’s most powerful decision-making body, and will sit atop of the party to drive the world’s second-largest economy over the coming half decade.
The line-up was more stacked with Xi loyalists that some watchers of elite Chinese politics had predicted – making clear that Xi has consolidated his power both in the public eye and in the closed-door meetings where leadership decisions are made.
Noticeably absent from the line-up was Hu Chunhua, 59, a vice premier outside Xi’s orbit who had previously been touted as a potential successor to Xi and a candidate for the Standing Committee.
Instead, Xi had filled the four open spots on the seven-member body with Xi long-time allies and proteges: Li Qiang, Cai Qi, Ding Xuexiang and Li Xi.
Li Qiang, Shanghai’s party chief and now the party’s number two leader, is expected to become China’s next premier in March after the incumbent Li Keqiang steps down. It is the highest-ranking position after Xi Jinping.
Qiang’s appointment comes despite strong backlash for the two-month Covid-19 lockdown in Shanghai earlier this year as further proof that loyalty and affinity to Xi trumps all else in China’s current political landscape.
More to come.