Dream over for Chinese State Councillor who fails to keep seat on Central Committee
Once touted as a possible vice-premier, secretary general of State Council Yang Jing is inexplicably excluded from party’s governing body
A senior Chinese politician who had been tipped to become a vice-premier appears to have lost any such hopes after failing to retain his seat on the Central Committee, the party’s governing body.
Yang Jing, one of the seven sitting members of the Secretariat – a powerful body that serves the Politburo – and the current secretary general of the State Council, was widely expected to be promoted to the Politburo following the party congress.
However, a prerequisite for such a promotion is membership of the Central Committee. All four current vice-premiers are members of the Politburo.
What is perhaps even more puzzling is that 64-year-old Yang was among the 42 members of the presidium standing committee at the party congress that had the final say on who made the shortlist for the Central Committee vote.
Before his appointment to leading roles in the State Council, Yang, an ethnic Mongolian, spent 38 years working in Inner Mongolia, and served as the region’s governor for five years from 2003 to 2008.
His experience in the coal-rich region was considered useful as the government sought to reduce overcapacity in the mining sector and improve the environment, in line with President Xi Jinping’s ambitions.