China's ruling Communist Party will reshuffle its leadership when it holds a once-in-five-years Congress starting Oct. 16, with Xi Jinping widely expected to stay on for a third term as general secretary, China's senior-most position.
That break with precedent makes it even harder than usual to predict the makeup of Xi's next Politburo Standing Committee, including who replaces No. 2 leader Li Keqiang as premier when he retires from the post in March.
The makeup of the standing committee — it now has seven members, but that number is not set in stone — matters because the party has traditionally practiced "collective leadership," requiring all decisions of the highest importance to be put to internal vote.