By Yew Lun Tian
BEIJING (Reuters) – Xi Jinping on Sunday secured a third term as leader of China’s ruling Communist Party and unveiled a new leadership team dominated by his allies, including the entire seven-member Politburo Standing Committee, which he heads.
Most of the wider Politburo, made up of 24 members, all of them men, also have some sort of connection to Xi.
Since coming to power in 2012, Xi has promoted numerous people who worked for or with him when he held various senior roles in Shanghai and the provinces of Fujian and Zhejiang.
Former subordinates account for three members of the new Standing Committee.
Among the new Politburo members, many are technocrats who were propelled into politics after Xi first came to power, such as Zhang Guoqing, who ran a large state weapons manufacturer before he was made deputy party chief of the municipality of Chongqing in 2013.
Technocrats who owe their political careers to Xi are considered a “clean slate” and less likely to have allegiance to other political factions, said Chen Daoyin, former associate professor at Shanghai University of Political Science and Law.
Such politicians, former technocrats and scholars, who consider Xi their patron can be relied on, as their interests are bound with Xi’s, he said.
Former Xi subordinates are sometimes referred to in political circle as “Xi’s army”.
Those without a known long-term connection to Xi but elected to the Politburo are perceived to have served him well.
Below are personnel elected on Sunday by the Central Committee, the biggest of the party’s top decision-making bodies, to the pinnacle of China’s political power, and their connections to Xi, if any:
POLITBURO STANDING COMMITTEE
Xi Jinping, 69
Li Qiang, 63, Xi’s chief of staff when Xi was Zhejiang party chief
Zhao Leji, 65, helped Xi remove corrupt and disloyal officials in past five years as chief graft-buster
Wang Huning, 67, helped Xi craft signature ideologies
Cai Qi, 66, Xi’s former subordinate in Fujian
Ding Xuexiang, 60, Xi’s chief of staff over past five years and previously in Shanghai
Li Xi, 66, connected to Xi family via a former boss, a revolutionary fighter close to Xi’s father
OTHER POLITBURO MEMBERS
Wang Yi, 69, state councillor and foreign minister. Does not have long-term Xi ties
Zhang Youxia, 72, vice chairman of the Central Military Commission. Zhang’s and Xi’s fathers fought together in the 1940s
He Weidong, 65, vice chairman of the Central Military Commission. Served in a Fujian-based army unit when Xi was party chief there
He Lifeng, 65, state planner chief. Worked under Xi in Fujian province in the 1980s
Chen Wenqing, 62, minister of state security. Does not have long-term Xi ties
Huang Kunming, 65, head of propaganda. Worked with Xi in Fujian and Zhejiang provinces
Li Shulei, 58, deputy head of propaganda. Worked for Xi at the Central Party School in late 2000s
Shi Taifeng, 66, member of the secretariat. Former scholar promoted by Xi
Chen Miner, 62, Chongqing party chief. Xi’s propaganda chief in Zhejiang in 2000s
Ma Xingrui, 63, Xinjiang party chief. Technocrat promoted by Xi
Yuan Jiajun, 60, Zhejiang party chief. Technocrat promoted by Xi
Yin Li, 60, Fujian party chief. Technocrat promoted by Xi.
Li Ganjie, 57, Shandong party chief. Technocrat promoted by Xi.
Liu Guozhong, 60, Shaanxi party chief. No known connection to Xi
Zhang Guoqing, 58, Liaoning party chief. Technocrat promoted by Xi
Li Hongzhong, 66, Tianjin party chief. No known long-term connection, but a close ally considered to be in “Xi’s army”
Chen Jining, 58, mayor of Beijing. Technocrat promoted by Xi
(Reporting by Yew Lun Tian; Editing by Tony Munroe and Alex Richardson)
