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Xi Jinping secured third term.



 

China's Xi Jinping secured a precedent-breaking third leadership term on Sunday.

The unveiling of the Standing Committee and the larger 24-member Politburo comes a day after the closing of the Communist Party's 20th Congress, where amendments were added to the party charter cementing the core status of Xi and the guiding role of his political thought within the party.

As expected, the new line-up does not include a clear successor to Xi, whose predecessor Hu Jintao was unexpectedly escorted out of the congress closing ceremony on Saturday. Ding heads the party Central Committee's powerful General Office, which manages the administrative affairs of the top leadership. Cai Qi, 66, joined the Standing Committee from his post as Beijing party chief and is considered one of Xi's closest political allies, having worked with him for 20 years in Fujian and Zhejiang coastal provinces. The fourth newcomer is Li Xi, 66, party chief of economic powerhouse Guangdong province, which experts also perceive to be ideologically close to Xi. However, they do not share a history of working together as the others do.

The unveiling comes a day after Li Keqiang and Wang Yang, seen by analysts as relative moderates that were young enough to serve longer in top decision-making bodies, were excluded from the more comprehensive Central Committee. Both have ties with the Communist Youth League, a once-influential group that experts say has lost power under Xi. Hu, 59, was not chosen to return to the Politburo, which now has 24 members, one fewer than usual. The lone woman in the last Politburo, Sun Chunlan, retired.

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