China’s Communist Party endorses Xi’s ‘core position’

Gulf Today Report

China's Communist Party on Saturday endorsed Xi Jinping's "core position" among its leadership, as the country's president concluded a five-yearly congress that is now almost certain to bring him a norm-busting third term in power.

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All party members will be obliged to "uphold Comrade Xi Jinping's core position on the Party Central Committee and in the Party as a whole", according to a unanimously passed resolution on changes to the party charter.

Chinese Premier Li Keqiang, the nation's No. 2 official and a proponent of economic reforms, is among four of the seven members who will not be reappointed to the nation's all-powerful Politburo Standing Committee.

Chinese President Xi Jinping and other officials applaud during a ceremony in Beijing, China, on Saturday. Reuters

They were not on the list released Saturday of the ruling Communist Party's new 205-member Central Committee, which means they cannot serve on the Standing Committee.

The others dropped from the list were Shanghai party chief Han Zheng, party advisory body head Wang Yang, and Li Zhanshu, a longtime ally of leader Xi Jinping and the head of the largely ceremonial National People's Congress.

The new Central Committee was approved at the closing session of a Communist Party congress that set the leadership and agenda for the next five years.