Mr Xi Jinping was yesterday confirmed as China's paramount ruler, on a par with Mao Zedong and Deng Xiaoping.

His political thoughts, bearing his name, have been enshrined in the Chinese Communist Party's (CCP) Constitution. Some 2,300 delegates unanimously endorsed the move yesterday morning at the close of the party's week-long 19th national congress. They also elected the new 376-member party Central Committee and the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection (CCDI), the country's top anti-graft body.

Mr Zhao Leji was the top-ranked official in the new 133-member CCDI, making him likely to be the next anti-corruption czar as current head Wang Qishan, 69, was notably absent from the line-up.

The central committee will today decide the country's top leadership for the next five years, electing members of the Politburo as well as its powerful Standing Committee.

Five of the seven members of the Politburo Standing Committee, apart from Mr Xi and Premier Li Keqiang, have retired, and observers expect Mr Xi to stack the top body with his loyalists in the new line-up.

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