China's Xi expands power as head of ruling party, promotes allies to inner circle

BEIJING - President Xi Jinping, China's most powerful leader in decades, increased his dominance Sunday when he was named to another term as head of the ruling Communist Party in a break with tradition and promoted allies who support his vision of tighter control over society and the struggling economy. The party also named a seven-member Standing Committee, its inner circle of power, dominated by Xi allies after Premier Li Keqiang, the No. 2 leader and an advocate of market-style reform and private enterprise, was dropped from the leadership Saturday. On Saturday, Xi's predecessor, 79-year-old Hu Jintao, abruptly left a meeting of the party Central Committee with an aide holding his arm. Other new Standing Committee members include Cai Qi, the Beijing party secretary, and Ding Xuexiang, a career party functionary who is regarded as Xi's "Alter ego" or chief of staff. Party plans call for creating a prosperous society by mid-century and restoring China to its historic role as a political, economic and cultural leader. Xi has called for the "Great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation" and a revival of the party's "Original mission" as social, economic and culture leader in a throwback to what he sees as a golden age after it took power in 1949. The party elite agreed in the 1990s to limit the general secretary to two five-year terms in hopes of avoiding a repeat of power struggles in previous decades.