The week-long 20th National Congress of the Communist Party of China (CPC) concluded on Saturday in Beijing with the election of a new Central Committee, where four current members of the CPC Politburo Standing Committee are absent: Li Keqiang (Premier), Li Zhanshu (National People’s Congress Chair) Wang Yang (Chair of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference) and Han Zheng (Vice Premier).
While Li Zhanshu, 72, and Han Zheng, 68, were widely expected by analysts to retire in the 20th CPC Congress, until recently some observers were predicting that Li Keqiang and Wang Yang (both aged 67) could stay in the CPC Politburo Standing Committee.
Other high-profile Politburo members absent from the new Central Committee include 72-year-old Yang Jiechi and 70-year-old Liu He, Vice Premier, both widely anticipated by observers to retire during this CPC Congress.
The Central Committee comprises 205 full members, among which the 25-member Political Bureau (also called the Politburo) is chosen. Of these, seven members are set to be elected for the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau. Failure to be included in the Central Committee list means not being able to be part of the top bodies: Politburo and Standing Committee of the Politburo.
The closing session of the 20th CPC National Congress was presided over by Xi Jinping who is set to start a third term of CPC General Secretary.
“This has been a congress of holding our banner high, pooling our strength, and promoting solidarity and dedication”, Xi told 2,338 delegates and specially invited delegates present at the closing session.
The General Secretary also said CPC is fully confident and capable of creating new and even greater miracles on the new journey of the new era, Xinhua reported.
In addition to electing the new Central Committee, Congress delegates also chose the members for the new Central Commission for Discipline Inspection.
The new Central Committee will convene for the first time tomorrow (Sunday). Members of the Party’s top leadership body, the 20th CPC Standing Committee of the Political Bureau, will meet the press on Sunday at around 12pm, after they are elected at a plenary meeting on the same day, Xinhua News Agency reported.
The event will be broadcast live by China Media Group and Xinhuanet. It will also be relayed simultaneously by television and radio stations across China, as well as news websites, new media platforms, large outdoor screens and mobile televisions.
CPC Congress delegates have also approved amendments to the CPC constitution, including adopting the Two Establishes (Establish the status of Xi Jinping as the core of the Party’s Central Committee and of the whole CPC; Establish the guiding role of the Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for the New Era) ) and Two Safeguards (Safeguard the core statutes of General Secretary Xi Jinping within the CPC; Safeguard the centralised authority of the Party).
During the closing session, former General Secretary Hu Jintao, who was sitting in the front row next to Xi Jinping, was escorted out of proceedings at Beijing’s Great Hall of the People.
State media reported late Saturday that Hu was “not feeling well” when he was removed.
“Xinhuanet reporter Liu Jiawen has learned that Hu Jintao insisted on attending the closing session… despite the fact that he has been taking time to recuperate recently,” Xinhua said on Twitter.
“When he was not feeling well during the session, his staff, for his health, accompanied him to a room next to the meeting venue for a rest. Now, he is much better.”
