The Communist Party of China (CPC) on Wednesday selected a new Central Committee, marking the end of Hu Jintao’s 10-year term as General Secretary and paving the way for Thursday’s unveiling of the new top leadership.
The CPC concluded its once-in-five year National Congress after the 2,300 or so delegates cast secret ballots to choose the party’s 18th Central Committee, which will comprise 205 members and 171 alternates — who do not have voting rights — and will remain in power until 2017.
After the new Central Committee meeting on Thursday morning, the CPC will unveil the next Politburo and Politburo Standing Committee (PBSC) — its elite inner circle of leaders and the party’s highest authority.
There were no surprises during Wednesday’s closing session: Vice President Xi Jinping — Mr. Hu’s anointed successor — and Vice Premier Li Keqiang were named among the Central Committee’s 205 full members, along with eight other current Politburo members, who are seen as contenders for spots on the next PBSC.
Mr. Xi and Mr. Li are the only members of the current nine-member Standing Committee who will hold on to their positions following the transition. On Thursday morning, Mr. Xi is scheduled to lead the new PBSC — expected to comprise seven or nine members — to an audience of Chinese and foreign journalists.
Mr. Hu ended his decade-long tenure as General Secretary — he will stay on as President until March — urging Party members to “lead the people in seizing and making the most of the strategic opportunities for China’s development that we have in this important period.”
The National Congress also approved amendments to the Party Constitution. Cementing Mr. Hu’s legacy, the Congress passed a resolution including his doctrine, called the “Scientific Outlook on Development,” which stresses balanced growth, in the text.
Another amendment called upon the party to “attach greater importance to conducting oversight of cadres,” reflecting rising concerns on the rampant corruption even within the party’s highest ranks, exposed by the purge of the former Politburo member, Bo Xilai, in September.
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