China President Xi Jinping breaks from convention and upholds tradition while shuffling his deck for the next five years ... or more

President’s failure to nominate a successor ends a 25-year tradition, but Wang Qishan’s departure is in line with ‘rules’ on retirement

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Framed portraits of German philosopher Karl Marx, Soviet state founder Vladimir Lenin and China's late leaders Mao Zedong and Deng Xiaoping (L-R) hang above a screen showing a news broadcast of China's President Xi Jinping attending a meeting in Beijing, as party members gather to watch the broadcast in Wenzhou, Zhejiang province, China October 25, 2017. Photo: Reuters

Published: 11:30pm, 25 Oct 2017Updated: 9:17pm, 26 Oct 2017

The Communist Party of China unveiled its new leadership on Wednesday, with perhaps the most notable points being the retirement of anti-graft chief Wang Qishan and the exclusion from the Politburo Standing Committee of anyone who would still be young enough to take over from President Xi Jinping in five years’ time.

Xi and Premier Li Keqiang were the only two incumbents to retain their seats on the committee, China’s highest decision making body. They were joined by Xi’s chief of staff Li Zhanshu, Vice-Premier Wang Yang, the ideology mastermind behind three presidents Wang Huning, the party’s new anti-graft chief Zhao Leji and Shanghai’s party boss Han Zheng.

Li Zhanshu is expected to take over China’s legislature; Wang Yang is tipped to head the country’s political advisory body; Wang Huning will head the Central Secretariat, the party’s nerve-hub; and Han is likely to serve as deputy premier.

The line-up was largely as suggested in earlier reports by the South China Morning Post.

The formidable Wang Qishan, 69, stepped down despite speculation he might remain beyond the generally accepted retirement age of 68.