Exclusive | China’s new leadership line-up revealed in full for first time with seasoned duo tipped to take key jobs

Veteran politician Wang Yang is most likely to become China’s executive vice-premier while Shanghai party chief Han Zheng may head its top political advisory body, sources have told the South China Morning Post. Both are tipped to ascend to the ruling Communist Party’s supreme Politburo Standing Committee.

The changes will be made during the party’s twice-a-decade national congress, which is under way in Beijing. Five out of the seven Standing Committee members are due to retire when the congress closes on Tuesday, with only President Xi Jinping and Premier Li Keqiang staying on.

Based on information from several sources, the Post has reported that the five new faces to join China’s top decision-making body will be Li Zhanshu, Han Zheng, Zhao Leji, Wang Yang and Wang Huning. Together with Li Keqiang, they will form a new team to support the Standing Committee’s “core” member, Xi, who is set to emerge as the most powerful leader in decades.

There had been speculation that Xi could reduce the size of the Standing Committee to five, to further centralise power, but sources said that was now unlikely to happen.

The full list of the seven-member Standing Committee will be revealed on Wednesday, after the party’s new Central Committee holds its first plenum meeting and endorses the line-up – completing the leadership reshuffle.

While Wang Yang and Han would be confirmed as Standing Committee members on Wednesday, according to sources, they would not take up the state-level posts until early next year.

Those appointments – Wang as executive vice-premier and Han as head of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC) – are expected to be finalised at the party’s second plenum meeting, just ahead of the annual National People’s Congress in March, at which they will formally approved.

The promotions show that Xi wants to maintain political continuity and stability, according to one source. They also show that political norms such as respect for seniority and the balance of power among factions still matter.

But the decision to elevate Wang and Han, both already members of the 25-strong Politburo, comes as no surprise – they are seasoned politicians and well-connected at the top.