China leadership transition moves ahead
China’s leadership transition is officially edging ahead, with the executive body of the Communist Party Congress forwarding a list of names to delegates for review.
The official Xinhua News Agency reported today that the congress’s presidium, 41 current and former members of the leadership, approved a candidate list for the Central Committee and sent it to the delegates.
The delegates will cast votes before the congress closes on Wednesday to choose the Central Committee, a roughly 350-member body.
The Central Committee in turn will select the top leadership.
The move is largely a formality, as is the congress itself.
Deciding the line-up of leading bodies falls to a small group of powerbrokers.
Candidates outnumber seats by only a small margin, giving the 2,268 congress delegates little choice.
