Meet the Xi Jinping allies in line to become Chinese leader’s new chief of staff
Ding Xuexiang or Li Qiang could head Communist Party’s low-key but powerful General Office
The top decision-making bodies of China’s Communist Party are expected to be dominated by allies of party chief Xi Jinping for the next five years, with the line-up to be revealed on Wednesday.
But beneath those leadership roles, Xi allies and proteges are also poised to control the party’s General Office, which serves as its nerve centre, and the Central Secretariat, which deals with the day-to-day running of the party Politburo and its Standing Committee.
Ding Xuexiang, a trusted Xi aide, is widely tipped to become head of the party Central Committee’s General Office, which would make him Xi’s new chief of staff.
Ding, now the General Office’s top-ranked deputy head, has extensive experience in assisting Xi.
The 55-year-old was Xi’s secretary during the half year he spent as Shanghai party boss in 2007 and was promoted to a deputy head of the General Office six months after Xi came to power in November 2012. In July 2013, two months after that promotion, Ding got a new title as director of Xi’s personal office and he has since accompanied Xi on many of his foreign and domestic trips.
Another possible candidate is Li Qiang, the party boss of Jiangsu province, who served as Xi’s aide during his years in Zhejiang province in the mid-2000s.
