Following the closing session of the 20th Congress of the Communist Party of China (CPC), several appointments have been announced. Former Beijing Party Secretary Cai Qi has become a Member of the Standing Committee of the Politburo and First Secretary of the CPC Secretariat. Beijing Mayor Chen Jining has been transferred to Shanghai to become the city's Party Secretary. He succeeds Li Qiang who is expected to become Premier at the next session of the National People's Congress in March next year. Guangdong Party Secretary Li Xi has stepped down and also joined the Standing Committee and will become Chairman of the Party's Central Commission for Discipline Inspection (CCDI). He will be replaced by Huang Kunming. Yin Yong (53) has been appointed Acting Mayor of Beijing.
Shi Taifeng (66), from Shanxi province, was named head of the United Front Work Department of the CPC Central Committee, while Li Shulei (58) from Henan province, became head of the Publicity Department. Chen Wenqing, formerly Minister of State Security and now a new member of the 24-member Politburo, will succeed Guo Shengkun as Party Secretary of the Central Political and Legal Affairs Commission. The Commission oversees all legal enforcement agencies, including the police force, national security and intelligence. Chen Yixun has been appointed as the new Minister of State Security.
One leader who is up for demotion is one of China's four Vice Premiers, Hu Chunhua (59). He lost his seat in the Politburo, but remains a Member of the Central Committee. That means however, that he will not be able to keep his job as Vice Premier and will certainly not be promoted as some analysts had expected. Hu had been tipped to become a future Premier.
The Standing Committee of the NPC also appointed several officials of Vice Ministerial rank, including one Vice Minister for the Environment, two Vice Commerce Ministers, one Deputy Governor of the People's Bank of China (PBOC) and the Director of the National Railway Bureau.
This overview is based on reports by the China Daily, Shanghai Daily, Global Times and South China Morning Post.
