Saturday 23 November 2013

Xi Jinping tipped to promote Communist Party allies to strengthen powerbase


Li Zhanshu, 63, one of Xi’s closest allies, is the front-runner to replace Han Zheng, 59, as Shanghai’s party boss, the sources said. The party boss outranks the city mayor.

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Guanyu said...

Xi Jinping tipped to promote Communist Party allies to strengthen powerbase

Reuters in Beijing
23 November 2013

President Xi Jinping plans to promote a string of allies in the coming months as part of a sweeping reshuffle of the Communist Party, the government and the military, three separate sources with ties to the leadership said.

The reshuffle would allow Xi, who is also party and military chief, to deepen his power base and counter opposition to the bold reforms unveiled this month at the third plenum of the party’s leaders, said the sources.

“With the third plenum over, Xi will promote his men to work with him and implement his policies and the reforms,” one of the sources said.

The changes would happen in the run-up, during or just after the annual full session of parliament in March, the sources said.

Li Zhanshu, 63, one of Xi’s closest allies, is the front-runner to replace Han Zheng, 59, as Shanghai’s party boss, the sources said. The party boss outranks the city mayor.

“Han Zheng will definitely step down and go to Beijing,” a second source said.

The sources said Han is tipped to be named to a senior role in the committee that Xi is setting up to oversee the reform process.

However, Li’s and Han’s appointments are not set in stone, they said.

Both Li and Han sit on the party’s decision-making 25-member Politburo and stand a good chance of promotion to the pinnacle of power, the seven-member Politburo Standing Committee, during the next five-yearly party congress in 2017, the sources said.

Barring any last-minute veto by Jiang Zemin, a former president who still wields political clout, Li would take over the top job in Shanghai with the priority of overseeing the development of the city’s free-trade zone.

“Jiang is hoping that Han Zheng can stay on to look after the interests of his family and allies,” a third source said.

Meanwhile, Cai Qi, a Fujian native who worked directly under Xi for more than 10 years, was promoted to become Zhejiang vice-governor yesterday in a move that further demonstrates Xi’s efforts to fuel a growing power base one year after taking control of the party.

Xi worked extensively in Fujian, becoming Xiamen vice-mayor in 1985 and rising to the rank of governor.

Cai began his political career in the province and, after holding posts there for more than 16 years. He became a member of the Communist Party’s Zhejiang provincial committee, just as Xi took the role of deputy secretary of the body. Huang Kunming, another Fujian native and Xi ally, recently became the deputy minister of the central propaganda department.