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If it’s China’s Politburo Standing Committee’s decision, then it’s usually final

Hong Kong Chief Executive candidate Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor reportedly has the backing of the body, which makes the nation’s most important decisions

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Why you can trust SCMP
For China’s leadership, the smaller the group, the more important it is. Photo: Xinhua

The ruling Chinese Communist Party’s Politburo Standing Committee decided at a meeting on December 25 to back Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor in the Hong Kong chief executive election, the South China Morning Post reported on Wednesday.

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A source told the Post the information was obtained at the meeting between Zhang Dejiang, chairman of the National People’s Congress and Politburo Standing Committee member, and a select number of Hong Kong elite in Shenzhen on Sunday and Monday.

Following the principle that “the smaller the meeting, the more important the meetings are”, gatherings involving China’s seven-strong standing committee often discuss the country’s most important secrets.

Here we take a look at the workings of the standing committee:

1. How are decisions made?

The internal decision-making process is unclear, but a general principle is that every member of the standing committee has one equal vote in a “collective leadership”.

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