19th Party Congress | What we learned on day six

Speculation is mounting over which officials will replace the five members of China’s top decision making body who are expected to retire this week.

Here is what we learned on day six of the Communist Party’s twice-
a-decade congress.

Citing sources it did not identify, the South China Morning Post reported that Li Zhanshu, Han Zheng, Zhao Leji, Wang Yang and Wang Huning – high-ranking party officials – will join President Xi Jinping and Premier Li Keqiang on the powerful Politburo Standing Committee. All are in their 60s and ineligible to carry out a two-term presidency from 2022, if current unwritten retirement rules hold. Such a scenario would raise questions about whether Xi might retain some sort of formal role after his second term ends five years from now.

BANKING HURDLES

Gadfly columnists Nisha Gopalan and Matthew Brooker outlined the  hurdles foreign banks face doing business in China, even though the market was opened in 2006 as part of an agreement struck when the country joined the World Trade Organization five years earlier. The share of global financial institutions in China has been small and shrinking for some time, declining to 1.38 percent of total banking assets in 2015 from 1.93 percent in 2011. Lengthy approval procedures for branch openings and working capital requirements keep a brake on expansion.

ILLEGAL STEEL PLANTS

China will prevent shuttered or illegal steel plants from resuming operations, according to an official at the nation’s top economic planning body. The world’s biggest steel producer has ordered illegal mills to close, both to reduce overcapacity and clean up the environment, in a campaign that has increased prices. Officials plan further output cuts at remaining plants over the winter in key production centers, Ning Jizhe, vice chairman of the National Development and Reform Commission, said at a weekend briefing.

TODAY HIGHLIGHTS

Delegates will decide whether to officially adopt in the party’s charter Xi’s thoughts on adapting Marxism to China’s context. If that happens, and his name is embedded in the constitution, it will further cement his influence. No party leader since Mao Zedong has put his stamp on guiding ideology in the charter before retirement.

The congress officially ends today when the party selects a new Central Committee with around 200 members. At its first plenum meeting on tomorrow, that group will choose the Politburo – currently 25 members – and its supreme Standing Committee, now seven members. David Tweed, Bloomberg