Is this a chance for China’s top graft-buster to break a long-standing unofficial rule?

The Communist Party could be willing to bend unofficial age limits for the country’s most powerful political body, according to one of the men behind a key party statement released last week.

Analysts said the comments by Deng Maosheng, who helped draft the communique for the Central Committee’s sixth plenum, were strong signals that the party’s top graft-buster could ­retain his seat on the Politburo Standing Committee next year.

Five of the seven Standing Committee members will reach the unofficial retirement age of 68 by the time of the party congress next year. Only party chief and President Xi Jinping, 63, and Premier Li Keqiang, 61, will be under the age limit. That threshold has not been included in any official document.

Asked yesterday if an exception would be made for Xi ally and discipline chief Wang Qishan, Deng, from the Central Committee’s Policy Research Office, said there was room for flexibility.

“When selecting central party leaders, I think strict organisation and full democratic procedures will apply, but that needs to be ­adjusted according to specific ­circumstances. The party needs to be flexible about the age of Standing Committee members,” he said.