The new lineup of the Communist Party's nine-person Politburo Standing Committee was revealed Monday, with four new members joining its ranks. Shanghai party secretrary Xi Jinping, 54, and Liaoning province party secretary Li Keqiang, 52, were among the new additions, Dow Jones reported. They are also the youngest members in the Standing Committee, making them the most likely successors to party leader and president Hu Jintao. Both men have implemented policies supportive of Hu at the local level, the Wall Street Journal said. The other additions were Zhou Yongkang, the public security minister, and He Guoqiang, head of the party's organization department. Hu and prime minister Wen Jiabao were reappointed, as expected. Others who were reapponted were Wu Bangguo, head of China's parliament, Li Changcun, the propaganda chief, and Jia Qinglin, head of the top government advisory body. The standing committee is the party's top decision-making body, and therefore China's most powerful group. The new lineup was revealed after the 17th Party Congress, a major opportunity for job reshuffles in the party held every five years, ended on October 21.
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