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SCMP Reporters

President Xi Jinping’s trusted economic adviser Liu He is in line for promotion to the role of Communist Party principal theorist, taking over from fellow academic and politician Wang Huning, the South China Morning Post has learned.
Wang is likely to be elevated to the party’s highest decision-making body, the Politburo Standing Committee – as revealed earlier by the Post in an exclusive report.
The changes will be made at the party’s twice-a-decade national congress that is under way in Beijing and ends on Tuesday. All eyes are on the new line-up for the seven-member Standing Committee, but the Politburo will also see a big shake-up, with about half of its 25 members to be replaced.
Liu, who is a member of the lower-level leadership body the Central Committee, is also expected to take a seat on the Politburo.
Although he is at a ministerial-level rank for now, Liu has a higher international profile than other more senior officials because of his close ties to Xi.
How Liu He went from government researcher to Xi’s right-hand man
A Harvard-trained economist, Liu is the mastermind behind Xi’s macroeconomic policy. He first came to outside attention when Xi singled him out for introduction to Thomas Donilon, national security adviser to former US president Barack Obama, when he visited Beijing in 2013.
“He is very important to me,” Xi was famously quoted as saying. Liu has also accompanied the president on many of his overseas trips.
The Communist Party ghostwriters who wrote the book on Xi Jinping
After he is elevated to the Politburo, sources said Liu will take over from Wang as head of the Central Policy Research Office, which provides research and ideas for ideology and theories. It also prepares work reports and key documents for the top leadership and carries out research for major policy initiatives.


While Liu was widely expected to take a seat on the Politburo, the role as communist ideologist may come as a surprise to some China watchers – there had been speculation he could take a more prominent role as a vice-premier in charge of the economy.
But sources said Liu’s lack of administrative experience and his academic temperament made that move less likely.
However, Xi is eager to strengthen the theoretical support for his reform policies – particularly on the economic front – and that is reflected in the promotions of Liu and Wang, one source said. Liu is expected to play an influential role as head of the Policy Research Office.
Friends in high places: Xi Jinping’s determined path to control
Christopher K Johnson, a senior adviser at the Washington-based Centre for Strategic and International Studies and a former China analyst at the CIA, described it as “a perfect position” for Liu.
“[In Xi’s view perhaps] he is too much of an academic for the knife attack of regular politics. There was a lot of assessment early on that he might become a vice-premier or something like that. But it seems Xi has concluded that would be a bad use of his talent,” Johnson said.
“It’s better to have him over at the Policy Research Office and remould its duties to act more as a strategic operation centre for policy – especially reform-oriented policy related to carrying out the agenda of the third plenum,” he said.
“The Policy Research Office is the right spot for Liu. I don’t think it’s a sidelining or anything like that.”


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Liu He (NDRC / economic adviser). Undated Handout.

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The new standing committee: Li Zhanshu, Zhao Leji, Wang Yang, Xi Jinping, Li Keqiang, Han Zheng, Wang Huning. Graphic: SCMP

Chen Miner

Governor of Heilongjiang province, Li Zhanshu speaks in Heilongjiang HK food processing and business cooperation conference at HKCEC. 18MAY09

epa06272476 Chinese President and General Secretary of the Communist Party of China Xi Jinping (C) shakes hands with former Chinese President Hu Jintao (L) beside former Chinese President Jiang Zemin (R) after the opening ceremony of the 19th National Congress of the Communist Party of China (CPC) at the Great Hall of the People (GHOP) in Beijing, China, 18 October 2017. China holds the 19th Congress of the Communist Party of China, the country's most important political event where the party's leadership is chosen and plans are made for the next five years. Xi Jinping is expected to remain as the General Secretary of the Communist Party of China for another five-year term. EPA-EFE/WU HONG

Wang Qishan - The opening of the 19th National Congress of the Communist Party of China (CPC) in Beijing. 18OCT17 Photo: HANDOUT

Wang Yang, China's vice premier, speaks during a reception ahead of the U.S.-China Comprehensive Economic Dialogue meeting in Washington, D.C., U.S., on Tuesday, July 18, 2017. The inaugural meeting of the U.S.-China Comprehensive Economic Dialogue taking place tomorrow, attended by senior U.S. and Chinese officials, is the first gathering covering economic and trade issues in a new format for U.S.-China dialogue agreed to after Presidents Donald Trump and Xi Jinping met. Photographer: Andrew Harrer/Bloomberg

Li Keqiang - The opening of the 19th National Congress of the Communist Party of China (CPC) in Beijing. 18OCT17 PHOTO: HANDOUT

Shanghai Mayor Han Zheng gestures as he answers questions from journalists during a press conference Monday, Jan. 16, 2012 in Shanghai, China. (AP Photo/Eugene Hoshiko)

(170516) -- SINGAPORE, May 16, 2017 (Xinhua) -- Zhao Leji, head of the Organization Department of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee, attends the opening ceremony of the Singapore-China Forum on Leadership in Singapore, May 16, 2017. (Xinhua/Then Chih Wey) (djj)

***ONE TIME USE ONLY, PLEASE CLEAR THE COPYRIGHTS BEFORE RE-USE - OTUO*** Wang Huning, Director, Central Policy Research Office.

China's President Xi Jinping arrives at a ceremony to commemorate the 90th anniversary of the founding of the People's Liberation Army, at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing on August 1, 2017. China will fiercely protect its sovereignty against "any people, organisation or political party", President Xi Jinping warned on August 1, as the country celebrated the 90th anniversary of its military, the People's Liberation Army. / AFP PHOTO / POOL / Andy WONG

How Liu He went from government researcher to Xi’s right-hand man

Liu He in Beijing in March 2010. Photo: Bloomberg

China's President Xi Jinping smiles to the audience after his speech at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, Tuesday, Jan. 17, 2017. (AP Photo/Michel Euler)

Zhou Xiaochuan, governor of China's People's Bank, meets the media at the National People's Congress media centre in Beijing. 12MAR16 Photo by Simon Song

Vice premier Zhang Gaoli (L), talks to Wang Huning, a member of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee during the opening ceremony of the National People's Congress in the Great Hall of the People in Beijing on March 5, 2016. China’s Communist-controlled parliament opened its annual session on March 5 and is expected to approve a new five-year plan to tackle slowing growth in the world’s second-largest economy. / AFP / WANG ZHAO

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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

Chinese Vice Premier Wang Yang attends the opening session of China's 19th Party Congress at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, Wednesday, Oct. 18, 2017. Chinese President Xi Jinping on Wednesday urged a reinvigorated Communist Party to take on a more forceful role in society and economic development to better address "grim" challenges facing the country as he opened a twice-a-decade national congress. (AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein)

Shanghai Communist Party Secretary Han Zheng attends the opening session of China's 19th Party Congress at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, Wednesday, Oct. 18, 2017. Chinese President Xi Jinping on Wednesday urged a reinvigorated Communist Party to take on a more forceful role in society and economic development to better address "grim" challenges facing the country as he opened a twice-a-decade national congress. (AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein)

Han Zheng (left) and Wang Yang are expected to ascend to the supreme Politburo Standing Committee. Photo: Handout

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Economist is expected to take a seat on Politburo and replace Wang Huning as Communist Party’s principal theorist


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Economist is expected to take a seat on Politburo and replace Wang Huning as Communist Party’s principal theorist