CHAIRMAN XI

China Gives Xi Jinping Its Mao-Like Status—With No Successor

Party renews term and enshrines president’s “Thought” amid a shakeup at the top.

Chinese President Xi Jinping on Wednesday revealed the new lineup of the ruling Communist Party’s highest body after he was given a second five-year term as party leader. The announcement came as the party enshrined Xi’s beliefs in its constitution—a tribute shared only by its totalitarian founder, Mao Zedong. Premier Li Keqiang, the party’s second-highest official, was the only one apart from Xi to keep his spot on the Politburo Standing Committee. Five retiring members of the committee were replaced. The five members promoted to take their places were Li Zhanshu, director of the party’s General Office and Xi’s chief of staff; Vice Premier Wang Yang; Wang Huning, director of the party’s Central Policy Research Office; Zhao Leji, head of the Central Organization Department responsible for job assignments; and Shanghai party leader Han Zheng, who manages the country’s financial hub. No successor to Xi was identified.