China congress: Xi cements power by packing top team with loyalists

(BBC) China’s leader Xi Jinping has moved into a historic third term in power, as he revealed a new leadership team stacked with loyalists.

On Sunday the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) unveiled its Politburo Standing Committee, with Mr Xi re-elected as general secretary.

Observers say the line-up, handpicked by Mr Xi, shows he prizes loyalty over expertise and experience.

The unveiling came after a week-long party congress in the capital.

More than 2,300 delegates elected various leadership groups and gave Mr Xi a new mandate over the party, in a break from decades-long tradition.

No other party leader besides CCP founder Mao Zedong has ever served a third term.

Leaders of China’s allies – Russia’s Vladimir Putin and North Korea’s Kim Jong-un – were among the first to send their congratulations.

On Sunday, a day after the congress closed, Mr Xi strode onto a stage in Beijing’s Great Hall of the People trailed by the six other men of the Politburo Standing Committee.

The group sits at the very top of the CCP and is the Chinese equivalent of the presidential cabinet.

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