Chinese President Xi Jinping's attendance at the funeral earlier this year of a one-time propaganda minister was a surprise; Deng Liqun, who died aged 99, was never a top-ranked official and had been a political enemy of Xi's father.

Xi's presence, sources said, was in fact part of a nascent effort to heal wounds across China's ideological divide after his unrelenting crackdown on corruption alienated senior officials from the ruling Communist Party, government and military.

Xi wants to consolidate support ahead of the 19th party congress in 2017, when the seven-member Politburo Standing Committee, the apex of power in China, is reshuffled, said the sources, who have close ties to the leadership.