By TAKASHI FUNAKOSHI/ Correspondent
October 22, 2022 at 18:36 JST
Chinese Premier Li Keqiang declares the Communist Party National Congress open on Oct. 16. (Xinhua News Agency)
BEIJING--Premier Li Keqiang’s name was not on a list of individuals chosen as members of the Chinese Communist Party’s Central Committee, evidence that the 67-year-old will step down next spring, further solidifying President Xi Jinping’s grip on power.
Both Li and Xi were promoted to the Central Politburo Standing Committee in 2007, but now it turns out the younger Li will be leaving the political stage before Xi.
The roster of new Central Committee members was released Oct. 22 in conjunction with the closing of the Communist Party National Congress.
The revelation means that Xi is all but assured of serving an unprecedented third term as Communist Party general secretary.
Li has championed Xi by overseeing the government administration since he became premier in 2013. But Xi apparently wants no rivals in the top leadership corps.
Xi, 69, has effectively ignored the unwritten rule that those aged 68 or older at the time of a National Congress must retire from party posts. And while Li could have remained in the Central Committee since he is only 67, no such accommodation was made.
Central Politburo Standing Committee members are selected from those in the Central Committee and with Li’s name absent from the roster he will not be able to remain in the top echelon of the party’s leadership.
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