Exclusive | China’s new leadership line-up revealed in full for first time with seasoned duo tipped to take key jobs
Veteran Wang Yang is expected to go up a rung to executive vice-premier, while Shanghai chief Han Zheng will head political advisory body, sources say
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.
