CCP Congress Key Surprises: The Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) on Sunday (23 October) elected Xi Jinping as the General Secretary of the party. With this, Jinping achieved the top leadership for the third time. Jinping’s official coronation as the third president will take place during the annual legislative session in March next year. A new Politburo Standing Committee has also been elected under the leadership of Jinping.
Xi Jinping is considered to be the most powerful ruler in the history of China after Mao Zedong. Let us know which things were special about the CCP Congress that concluded this weekend.
1. Promotion of Li Qiang
63-year-old Li Qiang has also been included in the seven members of China’s highest leadership body, the Politburo Standing Committee. Shanghai Party chief Li Qiang has been promoted to the number two position in the Communist Party. His becoming the next PM is believed to be certain. He will replace Li Keqiang in March. Li Qiang has been rewarded for strictly following the Corona lockdown and restrictions. Qiang’s friendship with Jinping is said to be old. The two have been firm allies since the 2000s.
latest video
2. Deputy Prime Minister Hu Chunhua out
Deputy Prime Minister Hu Chunhua was one of the main contenders for the post of PM. Hu Chunhua, 59, was never considered close to Jinping. He was close to former President Hu Jintao. He became famous as ‘Little Who’. He has not been included in the seven-member Politburo Standing Committee, nor has he been dropped from the 24-member Politburo, another top decision-making body in China. Now he is only in the Central Committee.
3. Early retirement of four out of seven top leaders
Four members have been dropped from the new line-up of the Politburo Standing Committee, announced at the conclusion of the Communist Party’s Congress. The four members dropped from the line-up included Premier Li Keqiang (67), National People’s Congress president Li Zanshu (72), Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference chairman Wang Yang (67) and Vice-Premier Han Zheng (68). Huh. Age is believed to be the reason behind the removal of these people.
In addition to Xi Jinping, the seven-member new Politburo Standing Committee includes Li Qiang, Zhao Leji, Wang Huning, Kai Chi, Ding Shueijiang and Xi Li.
4. No Women in the Politburo
For the first time in 25 years, no woman has been appointed to China’s top decision-making body, the Politburo. There was talk about 65-year-old Shen Yuu that she would be the only woman in the Politburo but she was not given a place in the list. Shen Yue is the vice-chairman of the National People’s Congress Standing Committee, the permanent body of the Chinese Parliament, and the chair of the government-backed NGO All China Women’s Federation. On Sunday, the Politburo was reduced from 25 to 24 members. At the same time, only 11 women were kept in the list of 205 members of the new Central Committee released on Saturday.
5. Retirement rules put on hold
Both Li Keqiang and Wang were given premature retirement, but the retirement rules were not followed for the president’s close aides General Zhang Yuxia (72) and Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi (69). Both General Zhang and Wang Yi were re-elected by the Central Committee on Saturday.
General Zhang has a great deal of experience in warfare and could now be made the vice chairman of the Central Military Commission, the top military decision-making body. He has an old relationship with Jinping. Both the fathers were each other’s ally. Zhang has long been a strong supporter of the integration of Jinping’s military and civilian projects. At the same time, Wang Yi is also the State Counselor. He will replace 72-year-old Yang Jiechi as China’s top diplomat. Wang has extensive experience handling the difficult and complex US-China bilateral relationship in recent years.
6. Hu Jintao’s sudden exit from the Great Hall of the People
Former President Hu Jintao was suddenly thrown out of the Great Hall of the People in Beijing on Saturday (October 22). Before leaving, he was seen saying something to Xi Jinping and the top officials sitting around. The video of this incident is going viral on social media. Hu Jintao didn’t seem inclined to go out.
China’s state-run Xinhua news agency said late Saturday that Hu’s health had deteriorated during the session. The agency said Hu insisted on attending the meeting despite his ill health. However, there has been no statement from the Chinese government regarding this. Political analysts also believe that Jinping displayed his power by ousting Hu from the hall. Let us tell you that Hu Jintao was the President of China from 2003 to 2013.