China elects new Central Committee, no Chairman of Inspection Commission, including Wang Qishan
Director of the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection of the Communist Party of China Wang Qishan is absent from the 19th Central Committee.
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| Mr. Wang Qishan. Photo: Reuters. |
Delegates to the 19th National Congress of the Communist Party of China elected a new Central Committee at its closing session today. The new Central Committee has 204 full members, one less than the 18th Central Committee. The committee has 172 alternate members.
Mr. Wang Qishan, member of the Politburo Standing Committee and director of the 18th Central Commission for Discipline Inspection (CCDI), is not on the list of the new Central Committee.
The congress also elected a new CCDI with 133 members. Mr. Wang Qishan will not continue to lead this agency because his name is not on the list of the 19th Central Committee of the Party.
Assessing the CCDI's performance over the years, the 19th Congress said the commission has built up high political awareness, self-awareness and honesty. "The fight against corruption has become an overwhelming trend, has been consolidated and continues to develop," according to the Congress resolution.
Wang Qishan, 69, is considered President Xi Jinping's right-hand man in his anti-corruption campaign. However, according to the unwritten rule of "7 up, 8 down" regarding retirement age, Wang is not eligible to continue participating in the new Central Committee of the Party.
Of the seven members of the 18th Politburo Standing Committee, only President Xi Jinping and Premier Li Keqiang were re-elected to the 19th Central Committee. Wang Qishan and the four remaining members, Zhang Gaoli, Yu Zhengsheng, Zhang Dejiang, and Liu Yunshan, are all past the age limit and are not present in this body.
Commenting on Wang Qishan's absence from the party's central committee and what will happen to the CCDI when he is no longer in charge, Xie Chuntao, a professor of political history at the Central Party School in Beijing, said: "The CCDI's work plan has been approved by the congress. So how the commission will continue to work has been clearly determined."
According to VNE
