Among them was a notable absence: an obvious successor to Xi, raising questions over how long he intends to rule. Five members of the new seven-strong Politburo Standing Committee Xi introduced were newly appointed Wednesday. Going by the party’s norms on retirement ages, none of them are deemed suitable to succeed the 64-year-old Xi as party leader after his second five-year term. The absence of an obvious successor pointed to Xi’s longer-term ambitions, said Joseph Fewsmith, an expert on Chinese politics at Boston University. And despite his unrivaled dominion over the party, Xi will likely struggle to make it relevant to a rapidly evolving Chinese society with higher expectations for a fairer and more open environment.

Source: Egypt Independent October 25, 2017 08:03 UTC