One year before a Communist Party conclave that could decide who will eventually replace him as China's next leader, President Xi Jinping is maneuvering to reduce the power of a rival political bloc while seeking to get members of his own faction onto the country's top ruling body, according to three sources with ties to the leadership.
Xi is trying to prevent the Communist Youth League faction from dominating the party's seven-member Standing Committee during the 19th congress next year, the sources said, speaking on condition of anonymity.
"There is no way Xi will let the Youth League have a majority in the Standing Committee," one of the sources said.