The Chinese Communist party has failed to designate a clear potential successor to its sitting general secretary for the first time in more than a quarter of a century, raising the possibility that Xi Jinping will attempt to remain in power well into the next decade.
Hu Jintao was designated as Jiang Zemin’s likely successor in 1992. Since then, the party’s Politburo Standing Committee, its most powerful body, has included at least one official in his mid-50s who has gone on to become both head of state and the party.
The line-up for the Chinese Communist party’s new Politburo Standing Committee, revealed on Wednesday, included seven men aged between 60 and 67.