CPC elects new Central Committee in leadership transition

The Communist Party of China (CPC) on Wednesday elected the 18th CPC Central Committee, unveiling the new leadership lineup for the coming five years.

Elected by 2,307 delegates at the closing session of the 18th CPC National Congress, the new CPC Central Committee includes 205 members and 171 alternate members.

"The congress elected a new Central Committee of the Party and replaced older leaders with younger ones," Hu Jintao said in an address at the closing session of the 18th CPC National Congress in the Great Hall of the People in Beijing.

Xi Jinping and Li Keqiang were elected to the Party's top decision-making body. Hu Jintao, Wu Bangguo, Wen Jiabao, Jia Qinglin, Li Changchun, He Guoqiang and Zhou Yongkang, who were members of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the 17th CPC Central Committee, are not in the new Central Committee.

Wang Qishan, Liu Yunshan, Liu Yandong, Li Yuanchao, Wang Yang, Zhang Gaoli, Zhang Dejiang and Yu Zhengsheng, who were members of the Political Bureau of the 17th CPC Central Committee, were also elected to the new CPC Central Committee.

The 18th CPC Central Committee will elect the Political Bureau, the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau and the General Secretary at its first plenary session on Thursday morning.

The 17th CPC Central Committee elected five years ago had 204 members and 167 alternate members.

Before the formal election on Wednesday morning, delegates to the congress carried out preliminary elections for candidates of members and alternate members of the 18th CPC Central Committee and of members of the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection.

According to the Party Constitution, the highest leading body of the CPC is the National Congress and the Central Committee it elects, and all constituent organizations and members of the Party are subordinate to the National Congress and the Central Committee.

The CPC National Congress is held once every five years.