Xi Jinping elected general secretary of 20th Central Committee of Communist Party of China

Beijing: Chinese President Xi Jinping unveiled a new leadership team today dominated by his allies in the politburo standing committee as he entered his precedent-breaking third term. Xi was again elected as General Secretary of the ruling Communist Party at the first plenary session of the 20th CPC central committee yesterday which also elected the new 24 member politburo and seven members of its standing committee.

With this, Xi further consolidated his power as he crushed the party factionalism, removing four out of seven members of the previous standing committee. Beijing Correspondent reports that a day after China wrapped up its top political meeting - the party congress, President Xi Jinping walked into Beijing's Great Hall of the People followed by members of the Communist Party's new Politburo Standing Committee in descending ranking order.

Shanghai party chief Li Qiang was



the first member behind Xi to walk into a hall packed with journalists, confirming his second-in-command in the hierarchy and signaling that he will become the country's next premier. The other five mebers have also been close associates of Xi. For the first time in a quarter century, there will no women in the Politburo after the retirement of its sole female member Sun Chunlan, a vice premier and China's top pandemic handler.

Some of the current leaders were dropped including Premier Li Keqiang. While the just-ended congress set out top officials and Xi as head of the party and military, some governmental positions will be confirmed in March at the National People's Congress, China's rubber-stamp parliament. Xi will renew his presidency for a third time, after he ditched a two-term limit from China's constitution in 2018 -- opening the door for him to rule for life.