Xi Jinping secured a historic third term as China's leader on Sunday and filled his inner circle with close allies, achieving after a decade in power complete dominance over the ruling Communist Party.

The party's Central Committee elected Xi as its general secretary for another five-year period, bringing the country back towards one-man rule after decades of power-sharing among its elite.

"I wish to thank the whole party sincerely for the trust you have placed in us," Xi told journalists at Beijing's Great Hall of the People after the closed-door, rubber-stamp vote was announced.

Xi, 69, was also reappointed head of China's Central Military Commission, keeping him in charge of the People's Liberation Army.

He is now all but certain to sail through to a third term as the country's president, due to be formally announced during the government's annual legislative sessions in March.

Sunday's developments cement Xi as the most powerful leader since Communist Party founder Mao Zedong.

In a wide-ranging acceptance speech on Sunday, Xi made signature remarks celebrating China's rise as a global power and its success under his rule.

"The world needs China," he said.

"After more than 40 years of unflagging efforts towards reform and opening up, we have created two miracles -- rapid economic development and long-term social stability."

Six of Xi's proteges and allies were also unveiled on Sunday alongside him as members of the Politburo Standing Committee -- the party's apex of power that rules the country.

Li Qiang -- Xi's former chief of staff who oversaw a gruelling two-month Covid lockdown in Shanghai this year -- was named as number two in the Standing Committee.

This means he is likely to take over as premier from Li Keqiang, a former Xi rival who will retire next year.

Close aide Ding Xuexiang and Guangdong party chief Li Xi, a longtime confidante of the president, were among other allies named in the Standing Committee.

"The new Politburo Standing Committee confirms decisively that Xi has consolidated power at the top of the Communist Party to an extent unseen since the Mao era," said Neil Thomas, a senior China analyst at Eurasia Group.

"Xi has installed allies onto all seven seats of the Communist Party's top decision-making body, allowing him to dominate the political system for the foreseeable future."

Alfred Wu Muluan, a Chinese politics expert at the National University of Singapore, said: "It is all Xi's people, signalling he wants to rule even beyond a third term."

Xi abolished the presidential two-term limit in 2018, paving the way for him to govern indefinitely.

The leader was swiftly congratulated Sunday by some of China's allies, including Russian President Vladimir Putin, North Korea's Kim Jong Un, and Cuba, whose President Miguel Diaz-Canel expressed a willingness to work with Xi on the "irreversibility and vitality of socialism" in the world.

Washington offered no immediate response to Xi.

- No women -

Sunday's announcements came after a week-long Congress of 2,300 hand-picked party delegates during which they endorsed Xi's "core position" in the leadership and approved a sweeping reshuffle that saw Li and other former Xi rivals relegated.

On Saturday the delegates elected the Central Committee of around 200 senior party officials, who on Sunday chose the 24-person Politburo and the Standing Committee.

The Politburo will have no women members for the first time in 25 years.

Analysts had closely watched for whether the party charter would be amended during the Congress to enshrine "Xi Jinping Thought" as a guiding philosophy, a move that would put Xi on a par with Mao.

That did not take place, though a resolution did call the creed "the Marxism of contemporary China and of the 21st Century", adding that it "embodies the best Chinese culture and ethos of this era".

- Hu led away -

In the most dramatic moment of the Congress, Hu Jintao -- Xi's predecessor as party leader and president -- was forcibly led out of Saturday's closing ceremony.

The frail-looking 79-year-old was reluctant to leave the front row, where he was sitting next to Xi.

State media reported that Hu had been removed because he was feeling unwell, and that he had since recovered.

But the extraordinary events, with Xi seemingly unfazed as Hu was lifted from his chair and escorted out, fuelled frenzied speculation among observers and analysts as to whether there were political factors at play.

Xi has promoted a narrative that he has rectified huge problems that beset China and the Communist Party during the reigns of Hu and his predecessors.

These include graft within the party and unequal distribution of wealth.

Adding to the intrigue, China's censors scrubbed references to Hu from the internet after he was removed from the Congress.

A Hu protege, Hu Chunhua, had been tipped by some to be named to the Standing Committee on Sunday. But Xi sidelined him.

Who's on the Chinese Communist Party's new Politburo Standing Committee?
Beijing (AFP) Oct 23, 2022 - The Chinese Communist Party on Sunday unveiled its new seven-member Politburo Standing Committee headed by leader Xi Jinping, representing the apex of political power in China.

Here are the men who will rule Beijing for the next five years, in order of seniority.

Xi Jinping

The 69-year-old was re-elected as general secretary of the Communist Party, paving the way for him to secure a third term as Chinese president at the government's annual legislative sessions next March.

Xi abolished the presidential two-term limit in 2018, paving the way for him to govern indefinitely.

He has consolidated power since becoming general secretary in 2012, partly through a wide-ranging anti-corruption campaign that brought down his political rivals.

This means that "elite promotions are less of a balancing act between rival factions and more of a loyalty contest within Xi's dominant faction", said Neil Thomas, senior China analyst at Eurasia Group.

Li Qiang

The former Shanghai party chief and Xi confidant was promoted to number two in the party hierarchy, making him likely to be named premier at next March's legislative sessions.

It would be an unusual appointment since Li, unlike most past premiers, does not have experience as a vice premier managing central government portfolios.

The 63-year-old rising star's prospects were seemingly in doubt after he bungled a harsh two-month lockdown of Shanghai earlier this year that saw residents left with a lack of access to food and medical care.

This "showcases to everyone that loyalty rather than popularity is the key for your promotion", tweeted Yang Zhang, an assistant professor at American University in Washington.

"The disaster of Shanghai Lockdown did not stop Li's elevation precisely because he followed Xi's order despite all criticism."

Li is viewed as one of Xi's favourites, having served as the leader's chief of staff while he was party boss of the affluent Zhejiang province between 2004 and 2007.

Zhao Leji

The 65-year-old former head of the party's top anti-corruption watchdog has remained on the Standing Committee, being promoted to number three in the party hierarchy.

The experienced administrator has been party secretary of two provinces and a Politburo member since 2012.

Wang Huning

Xi's ideology tsar and existing Standing Committee member has been promoted to number four in the party lineup.

Dubbed the "brains behind the throne", the 67-year-old former university professor has devised ideologies for three current and former Chinese presidents, and is the architect of Xi's "China Dream" slogan, as well as the country's more assertive foreign policy.

In one of his most famous works, "America Against America", he argued for the US' inevitable downfall due to wayward cultural values like decadence and individualism.

Cai Qi

Current Beijing party chief Cai Qi has been promoted to the Standing Committee and becomes the head of the General Secretariat, managing the day-to-day affairs of the party, according to a member list released by Xinhua.

The 66-year-old is seen as a close political ally of Xi due to his time working under him in the provinces of Zhejiang and Fujian.

He was sent to Beijing as deputy head of the General Office of the National Security Commission in 2014, before becoming Beijing party boss in 2017. He oversaw the successful Beijing Winter Olympics in February.

Ding Xuexiang

The low-key Politburo member and top aide of Xi has been promoted to the Standing Committee -- an appointment widely expected by analysts for a member of the leader's inner circle.

The 60-year-old regularly accompanies Xi on official engagements, becoming a familiar face hovering in the background of state media reports, never far from his boss.

The former head of the Communist Party's General Office has never served as a provincial-level party boss or governor, making his appointment effectively a reward for his loyalty to Xi.

The pair became close while Ding served in the Shanghai party committee -- Xi was Shanghai's top party boss in 2007-8 -- and he moved to Beijing to work as Xi's personal secretary in 2013.

"If Xi's two secretaries lead the (government) State Council... it will no longer be parallel with the Party, but simply one (of) many institutions under the leadership of the Party, and of Xi," tweeted Zhang.

Li Xi

The current Politburo member and party chief of economic powerhouse Guangdong province has been promoted to the Standing Committee, in an appointment widely anticipated by observers.

Li, 66, was confirmed as head of the powerful Central Commission for Discipline Inspection, the party's powerful anti-graft watchdog, in a list released by Xinhua.

Li is regarded as a confidant of Xi, having known him since the 1980s after working as secretary for a close ally of Xi's father, revolutionary leader Xi Zhongxun. He also built up a power base in Shaanxi, Xi's ancestral province.

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