Xi ally gets key post in military body

BEIJING • The leadership of China's powerful Central Military Commission was unveiled yesterday, with President Xi Jinping elected for a second term as chairman.

General Zhang Youxia, 67, a former director of the commission's equipment development department and a trusted ally of Mr Xi, was named the new second vice-chairman, reported South China Morning Post.

The current second vice-chairman Xu Qiliang, 67, was promoted to replace General Fan Changlong as the first chairman. The 70-year-old Fan will retire.

Zhao Leji takes over as anti-graft chief

BEIJING • Mr Zhao Leji was elected yesterday as head of the Central Committee for Discipline Inspection, the Communist Party's top anti-graft watchdog, China's Xinhua news agency reported.

Mr Zhao, head of the party's Organisation Department, which oversees personnel decisions, is taking over from President Xi Jinping's close ally Wang Qishan, 69, who has retired from the apex Politburo Standing Committee.

After a stint running nearby Shaanxi province, Mr Xi's home province, Mr Zhao was catapulted to the party's Organisation Department, which holds sway over appointments to senior patronage jobs across the country, from provinces to central party agencies.

This made him instrumental in Mr Xi's efforts to position allies ahead of the current reshuffle.

Prior to his stint in Shaanxi, Mr Zhao spent almost three decades climbing the ranks in Qinghai, one of the poorest regions in China.

Diplomat's surprise rise to Politburo

BEIJING • Top diplomat Yang Jiechi has surprisingly made it to the Politburo and could become one of four vice-premiers, the first diplomat to hold that post since Mr Qian Qichen, who was vice-premier from 1993 to 2003, Reuters reported.

The late Mr Qian was instrumental in breaking China out of diplomatic isolation after the 1989 Tiananmen crackdown.