A SEMI-OFFICIAL news agency has boosted the political fortune of Vice-Premier Mr Zhu Rongji by revealing for the first time his status as the de facto head of the Qinghua Faction.
The Chinese Communist Party has never admitted that there are factions within itself.
In a dispatch yesterday entitled There Are Many Qinghua [University] Graduates in Chinese Politics, however, the China News Service (CNS) has in effect given official recognition to such a faction.
The agency revealed that 29 full or alternate members of the new Central Committee were alumnae of the elite Beijing institution, which is most famous for its engineering departments.
Distinguished graduates of Qinghua range from conservatives such as former politburo members Mr Song Ping and Mr Li Ximing to liberals like Vice-Premier Mr Zhu and Sichuan Governor Mr Xiao Yang.
However, the focus of the CNS dispatch was that moderates led by Mr Zhu had dominated the faction.
The agency revealed that since graduating from Qinghua with top honours in 1947, Mr Zhu had maintained a very close relationship with his alma mater.