Party members meet for personnel changes

Communist Party leaders met in Beijing Monday to begin a three-day session to discuss personnel changes and plans to restructure China’s cabinet ahead of the March 5 National People’s Congress (NPC), Reuters reported, citing state media. The meeting is the first time the party’s 204-member Central Committee has convened since last October. Xi Jinping and Li Keqiang, who were both promoted to the party’s nine-member Politburo Standing Committee in October, are expected to be appointed vice-president and first vice-premier respectively, according to sources familiar with the matter. China’s four highest-ranking leaders – President Hu Jintao, NPC Standing Committee Chairman Wu Bangguo, Premier Wen Jiabao and Chinese People’s Political Consultative Congress Chairman Jia Qinglin – are all widely expected to retain their positions come March 5.