China

BEIJING/HONG KONG, Oct 22 (Reuters) - China's central bank chief Yi Gang is likely to step down after he was dropped from an elite body of the ruling Communist Party, with a former central banker a leading contender to succeed him, sources close to the central bank said.

The potential retirement in early 2023 of Yi, 64, has been the subject of intense speculation as he nears the official retirement age of 65 for minister-level officials. Some policy insiders and advisers had suggested Yi's tenure might be extended, as was the case with his predecessor, Zhou Xiaochuan.

BEIJING, Oct 22 (Reuters) - Chinese Premier Li Keqiang and three other members of the elite Politburo Standing Committee of the ruling Communist Party were excluded from the newly elected Central Committee on Saturday.

More than 2,000 delegates to a once-every-five-years party congress in Beijing elected a 205-person Central Committee as well as 171 alternate members.

Li Keqiang, 67, Li Zhanshu, 72, Wang Yang, 67, and Han Zheng, 68 - members of the current seven-person Standing Committee - were excluded from the new Central Committee.

BEIJING, Oct 22 (Reuters) - Chinese former President Hu Jintao was unexpectedly escorted out of the closing ceremony of a congress of the ruling Communist Party on Saturday.

Hu, 79, Xi Jinping's immediate predecessor, was seated to the left of Xi. He was led off the stage of the main auditorium of the Great Hall of the People in Beijing by two stewards, a Reuters witness at the congress said.

BEIJING, Oct 21 (APP): Pakistan and China have agreed to launch three new corridors, including the China-Pakistan Digital Corridor that would help enhance cooperation in different fields of Information Technology (IT), said Pakistan Ambassador to China, Moin ul Haque.

Pakistan has a rich repertoire of talent and human resources in different fields of science and technology and IT-based science and technology have become very important for Pakistan.

BEIJING, Oct 20 (APP): China on Thursday voiced support for the expansion of BRICS membership after reports about Saudi Arabia showing its intention to join the group that presently comprises Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa.

“As the BRICS chair for this year, China has actively supported the BRICS in starting the membership expansion process and advanced the ‘BRICS Plus’ cooperation,” Chinese Foreign Ministry Spokesperson, Wang Wenbin said during his regular briefing.

BEIJING (AP) — While Xi Jinping is primed to receive a third term as head of China’s ruling Communist Party on Sunday, it is unknown who will join him for the next five years on the party’s leading bodies, the Central Committee and the Politburo.

Analysts will scrutinize who joins, and who leaves, for any clues about the future direction of policy as well as just how much power the 69-year-old Xi has been able to amass as one of China’s most influential figures in the country’s modern political history.

BEIJING, Oct 18 (APP): The Communist Party of China (CPC) has effectively contained the spread of corruption in China and investigated over 74,000 officials who were suspected of corruption and bribery during past decade.

The CPC has made unprecedented efforts to tackle corruption in the past decade, senior Party officials said at a news conference.

BEIJING, Oct. 17 (APP): Expert Advisory Panel on Traditional Medicine, World Health Organization (WHO) and Co-Director of Sino-Pakistan Cooperation Center on TCM (SPCCTCM), Prof Liu Xinmin said that Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) and Unani Tibb (traditional medicine in Pakistan) enjoy a broad space of collaboration in research and development, management and production.

BEIJING, Oct 16 (APP): The 20th National Congress of the Communist Party of China (CPC) would promote China’s development and share prosperity for the world, said Pakistan’s Ambassador to China Moin ul Haque.

He said that the Congress would lay a strong foundation for furthering China’s ongoing progress and development journey.

BEIJING (AP) — Chinese leader Xi Jinping on Sunday called for faster military development and announced no change in policies that have strained relations with Washington and tightened the ruling Communist Party’s control over society and the economy.

China’s most influential figure in decades spoke as the party opened a congress that was closely watched by companies, governments and the public for signs of official direction. It comes amid a painful slump in the world’s second-largest economy and tension with Washington and Asian neighbors over trade, technology and security.