Political Succession · Full chronicle and history

Reports out of Beijing say Xi Jinping is moving to build a new succession team centered on Peng Liyuan and Xi Mingze, and a major purge within the Party is expected before the end of the year to eliminate potential risks.

In his program on September 29, 2026, Hu Liren predicted that Xi Jinping might quickly roll out Xi Mingze as his successor, based on her recent public appearances alongside him, facial recognition matches, and heightened security at Zhongnanhai.

In her program on September 28, 2026, Qiqi speculated that Zhang Quan, a new face accompanying Xi Jinping and his wife on their visit to the US, has a blank résumé and may in fact be Xi Mingze, meaning that the succession has already begun.

Multiple versions of the CCP 20th Politburo member list are circulating outside the Great Firewall. While the names vary across versions, Hu Chunhua is pushed to the highest position in almost all of them, while the current top leader is missing from the lists, sparking speculation from the outside world.

Qin Weiguo, member of the Standing Committee of the CPC Anhui Provincial Committee and secretary of the Political and Legal Affairs Commission, has officially taken over as secretary of the Hefei Municipal Party Committee, a post that had been vacant for more than three months.

Jiang Wangzheng released news claiming that Li Qiang might succeed to power at the 21st National Congress and, after taking office, push for the disclosure of officials' assets in 2027 or 2028.

Overseas social media platforms once reported that Jin Lei, the Party Secretary of Shenzhen, is Xi Jinping's "cousin" and has been selected as his successor.

In the list of Standing Committee members announced at the 1st Plenary Session of the 19th CCP Central Committee, Hu Chunhua failed to enter the Standing Committee. Although Li Keqiang and Wang Yang were included, the succession plan laid out by Hu Jintao in 2012 has been significantly compromised.

At the 17th National Congress of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), Xi Jinping, with a narrow advantage, entered the Politburo Standing Committee along with Li Keqiang, becoming Hu Jintao's successor, while Bo Xilai only made it to the Politburo.

In June 2007, about 400 senior cadres held a closed-door democratic recommendation vote ahead of the 17th CCP National Congress. Reports said Xi Jinping ranked first in votes and Li Keqiang second; the results were never officially released.

In June 2007, Hu Jintao pushed forward a system of democratic recommendations, in which more than 400 Central Committee members and alternate members voted to select Politburo candidates from among more than 200 ministerial-level officials under the age of 63. Large numbers of Jiang Zemin faction members voted in blocs, resulting in Li Keqiang's elimination and Xi Jinping's victory, and Hu Jintao's succession plan fell through.

At the end of 1988, Hu Jintao was dispatched by Deng Xiaoping to Lhasa to serve as Party Secretary of the Tibet Autonomous Region. Soon after taking office, he encountered the death of the Panchen Lama and turmoil in Lhasa.

In October 1985, under the principle of then General Secretary Hu Yaobang, Wen Jiabao was selected as deputy director of the General Office of the CCP Central Committee and subsequently promoted to director.

In 1985 Hu Jintao was transferred from the Communist Youth League Central Committee to serve as Secretary of the Guizhou Provincial Party Committee, making him the youngest provincial Party secretary in China at the time; in 1986 Guizhou's per capita GDP was only 461 yuan, ranking last in the country.