The Communist Party of China (CPC) presented the seven members of the 19th Central Committee’s Political Bureau Permanent Committee, who will guide the nation as it embarks on a new era.
In the East Room of the Great Hall of the People, where the CPC recently held its 19th National Congress, President Xi Jinping announced that he had been reelected as Secretary General of the organization, and presented the men who will help him lead the second most powerful country in the world.
“I not only view this as an endorsement of my work, but also as an incentive,” stated Xi, who likewise made the most of the occasion to express his thanks for the “855 messages of congratulations sent by 452 key political parties from 165 countries.”
In addition to Xi, Li Keqiang, the country’s current Prime Minister, was also reelected to his position on the Permanent Committee, while Li Zhanshu, Wang Yang, Wang Huning, Zhao Leji, and Han Zheng and make up the five remaining members of the body.
Chosen on October 25, during the first plenum of the CPC’s 19th Central Committee, which usually takes place after its Congress, this is the first time all members of the Permanent Committee were born after the founding of the People’s Republic of China in 1949.
One by one, before an impressive painting of the Great Wall of China, Xi presented the country’s new generation of leaders who, in a brief speech, noted that they will support him in guiding the nation toward its goal of becoming a modern socialist power.
Meanwhile, next year marks the 40th anniversary of the launch of the reform and opening-up program by then President Deng Xiaoping, which according to the Chinese themselves has been, and will continue to be, the key to their success.
Reports by the country’s press note that the seven most influential men in the Party began their political careers at around the same time the new policy began to be implemented in 1978; making them active participants in the process, which has seen over 1,500 reforms implemented over the last five years of Xi’s mandate.
All seven members of the Permanent Committee, including Xi Jinping, began their careers at the lowest level of the largest political party in the world, which has around 90 million members.
What is more, it was not by chance that China has risen to become the second most powerful country on the planet. In the Asian giant’s game of political chess, promoting economic development and GDP growth are one of the key elements to its success. According to official documents provided the Party, almost all of the seven members worked in the country’s eastern region, the indisputable driving force behind its development, as well as its less prosperous central and western zones.
The country has also made noteworthy progress in its battle to eradicate poverty, corruption, and to transform its industries, all issues which have been prioritized by the government and Party over the last five years.
There’s not much more to be said about Xi Jinping and Li Keqiang, the President-Prime Minister duo currently represents the main face of China’s outstanding progress.
Li Zhanshu, the oldest of the seven members, born in 1950, was director of the CPC Central Committee General Bureau, secretary general of the Party in Guizhou province, and has occupied important positions in Heilongjiang, Shaanxi and Hebei.
Wang Yang meanwhile, was senior CPC leader in the influential province of Guangdong, located in the south of the country near Hong Kong and Macao, and responsible for generating 10% of the nation’s GDP.
Wang Huning, on the other hand, is a renowned academic, and has held important positions in the central circles of Party since 1995, while Zhao Leji spent most of his time working in Shaanxi and Qinghai, and was voted secretary of the Party’s Central Commission for Discipline Inspection during its 19th Congress.
And lastly, Han Zheng, secretary general of the CPC in one of the main areas of development not only in China, but also the world: Shanghai, a position also previously held by Jiang Zemin and Xi Jinping.
(Granma)