Tammy Tam

City Beat | What a new era with Xi Jinping’s ‘dream team’ means for Hong Kong

Tammy Tam says selection of core seven shows how officials are picked for ascension, while former liaison office head Zhang Xiaoming never really left

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Chinese President Xi Jinping (centre) and other new Politburo Standing Committee members (from left) Wang Huning, Li Zhanshu, Han Zheng, Li Keqiang, Wang Yang, Zhao Leji at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing. Photo: Reuters/Jason Lee

Tammy Tam

Published: 3:20pm, 29 Oct 2017Updated: 10:41am, 30 Oct 2017

For journalists covering China’s twice-a-decade Communist Party congress, the defining moment came last Wednesday when President Xi Jinping unveiled his “dream team” which will lead the country into a “new era”.

But one face in the new line-up caught the attention of the whole city – Li Zhanshu, Xi’s trusted right-hand man.

Ranked third out of seven in the top leadership order, Li is expected to become the head of the national parliament in March, which means he is most likely to be in charge of Hong Kong as that role is usually taken over by the country’s top legislator.

Xi Jinping speaks at a press conference at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, China. EPA-EFE/HOW HWEE YOUNG

Another important promotion at the congress must not be missed – that of Zhang Xiaoming, a man who is no stranger to Hongkongers after serving as the central government’s top representative in the city for five years.

Following his transfer back to Beijing in September to head the Hong Kong and Macau Affairs Office (HKMAO), he was not only elevated during the just-concluded congress to a full member of the new Central Committee, but also promoted to the post of deputy head of the party’s leading group on Hong Kong and Macau affairs – a decision-making body under the powerful Politburo which reports to Xi.