Exclusive | Confident Xi reaches out to trusted colleagues

Chinese Premier Li Keqiang will stay on as head of government for another term while President Xi Jinping’s name will be enshrined in the Communist Party’s charter alongside those of late leaders Mao Zedong and Deng Xiaoping, sources familiar with the situation told the South China Morning Post.

With three weeks to go before an all-important national party congress that will decide China’s leadership line-up for the next five years, speculation about the gathering’s outcomes is mounting. Past congresses were defined by intense horse-trading between various cliques, but this time the discussion is dominated by Xi – the strongest Chinese political leader in decades.

Still, sources said, the president would need to weigh his options carefully because his decisions would determine the party and country’s direction for years to come.

The first resolution will be for Li Keqiang, the party’s second-in-command, to retain his position as premier. Some observers had suggested that Li, who has a PhD in economics, might emerge from the power reshuffle with a new post. But sources said Xi, now confident of his command over economic and financial policy, had decided to retain Li as premier. Li would keep his seat on the Politburo Standing Committee, the top echelon of Chinese politics.

Although Li differs from the president in political background and temperament, he has proved to be a loyal enforcer of Xi’s decisions. And after five years of working together, the two men had become used to each other’s style, sources said.