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Retirement awaits China’s Li Keqiang and Wang Yang as Xi Jinping looks to next generation in unprecedented third term
- Communist veterans Li and Wang among those left off the list of the party’s Central Committee
- Departures leave Xi more room for his choice of team for the next five years and beyond
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Chinese paramount leader Xi Jinping began his unprecedented third term with a major shake-up at the top, retiring veteran heavyweights including Li Keqiang and Wang Yang.
Immediately after the close of the Communist Party’s 20th national congress on Saturday, state news agency Xinhua announced the members of the new Central Committee, which oversees the party’s 97 million members.
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Four members of the Politburo Standing Committee – the highest decision-making body in China – are missing from the list, as the South China Morning Post reported earlier. Ranked in order of their party hierarchy, they are Premier Li Keqiang, 67; National People’s Congress chairman Li Zhanshu, 72; Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference chairman Wang Yang, 67; and Vice-Premier Han Zheng, 68.
This means they will go into full retirement.
The Central Committee, with around 200 full members, reports to the 25-member Politburo, which is headed by the Politburo Standing Committee. Failing to make it to the list means the person will not get any important state or government position.
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