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Chinese Premier Li Keqiang, the nation’s No. 2 official and a chief proponent of economic reforms, is among four of the seven members of the nation’s all-powerful Politburo Standing Committee who will not be reappointed in a leadership shuffle Sunday.
His coming departure, which was revealed during the conclusion of a major party meeting Saturday, will be seen as further affirmation of Chinese President Xi Jinping’s tight hold on power in the world’s second-largest economy.
Li and three others were missing from the ruling Communist Party’s new 205-member Central Committee that was approved at the closing session of a weeklong party congress, which set the leadership and agenda for the next five years. Only Central Committee members can serve on the Standing Committee.
The party congress also approved an amendment of the party constitution Saturday that could further enhance Xi Jinping’s stature as China’s leader.
The text of the amendment was not immediately released, but before its approval an announcer read out the reasoning behind it, repeatedly mentioning Xi and his accomplishments in strengthening the military and the economy and reinforcing the party’s authority.
Xi, in brief closing remarks, said the revision «sets out clear requirements for upholding and strengthening the party’s overall leadership.»
At the previous congress in 2017, the party elevated Xi’s status by enshrining his ideas — known as «Xi Jinping Thought» — in its charter.
The three other Standing Committee members who were dropped were Shanghai party chief Han Zheng, party advisory body head Wang Yang, and Li Zhanshu, a longtime Xi ally and the head of the largely ceremonial National People’s Congress.
