From the FT come the following description of China’s “conservative” new leadership:
The group was led by Xi Jinping, signalling that he holds the top rank and has succeeded Hu Jintao as general secretary of the party. He will succeed Mr Hu as president next March. Li Keqiang was third in line, an indication that he will replace Wen Jiabao as premier in March, in another expected decision.
But the rest of the party’s Politburo Standing Committee – the elite group that effectively runs China – represent a more conservative line-up than many had hoped for.
The Standing Committee did not include several men who are viewed as advocates of reform, including Li Yuanchao, head of the Organisation Department, which manages personnel issues. Wang Yang, the party secretary of the economic powerhouse of Guangdong province, also did not make the final seven.
Instead, the other five committee members are all politicians who have already served at least one term on the 25-member politburo and will have reached retirement age by the end of Mr Xi’s first term.
Zhang Dejiang, a North Korea-trained economist, ranks second in the new leadership as head of the National People’s Congress, China’s rubber stamp parliament. Yu Zhengsheng, the former party secretary of Shanghai, was picked to lead the Chinese People’s Consultative Conference.
Liu Yunshan, who helped tighten controls over China’s media and internet as head of the party’s Propaganda Department in recent years, is number five.
The line-up also includes Zhang Gaoli, who has been running the port city of Tianjin, and Wang Qishan, a veteran economic policy maker.
