China’s top leaders will be made public as Xi Jinping solidifies his hold on power.

Lanshu Li and Zheng Han.

Among them are Chen Min’er, the party boss of Chongqing, who has been one of Xi’s longstanding protégés and close supporters, Ding Xuexiang, the head of the Communist Party’s General Office, who is 60, and Li Qiang, the party chief of Shanghai, who is 63.

According to Chen Gang, Senior Research Fellow at National University of Singapore’s East Asian Institute, a top body made up entirely of loyalists would “weaken further” top-level power sharing.

“Unlike his predecessors, Xi is no longer top among equals in this situation. Even if they backed him before joining the committee, he still has to delegate authority to other standing committee members, he said.

Eyes will also be on Hu Chunhua, 59, a vice premier outside of Xi’s sphere of influence who was once seen as a possible successor to Xi. Hu’s career was halted in 2017 when he was not given a promotion into the Standing Committee.

The presence of a young person on the standing committee, who may be Xi’s successor, will be closely watched by experts because it could indicate whether or not Xi intends to run for a fourth term.

three terms

Amidst internal economic difficulties and tense foreign relations, as Xi referred to in his speech opening the Party Congress on Sunday, he won’t necessarily have an easy road ahead as he enters what is believed to be a third term, one perhaps surrounded by friends.

a very loyal Standing Committee “does not necessarily imply that Xi will acquire ultimate power and become almighty. His limitless might will be restricted as he ages by his meager resources and dwindling energy, according to Zhang of American University.

He said that since Xi has complete authority, his team would be totally accountable for any policy errors and may face larger international backlash from the US-led Western nations. In the meanwhile, Xi’s own allies may split up into several blocs and vie for power.

His third term, and maybe his fourth, won’t be as simple as imagined because of all of these possibilities, he said.

Miniechat

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