Beijing's
mayor Cai Qi has been appointed party chief of the capital city, the official
Xinhua news agency reported on Saturday.
Cai is close
to Chinese President Xi Jinping, sources with ties to the leadership have told
Reuters, and is virtually assured a seat in the decision-making politburo
during the 19th party congress in the autumn.
The
politburo currently has 25 members.
Cai and Xi
overlapped during their time in various government positions both in the
eastern province of Zhejiang and in the southeastern province of Fujian.
This is the
latest move by Xi to put his allies in key positions ahead of the party
congress.
In the past,
politicians served as provincial governors or city mayors for five years before
being promoted to party secretary of the province or city. The party secretary
outranks the governor or mayor.
Cai has been
promoted quickly, as he only became the acting mayor of Beijing in October last
year and the mayor in January this year.
Prior to
becoming the acting Beijing mayor, Cai was a senior official at China's
National Security Commission.
China's
environment minister Chen Jining will replace Cai as acting Beijing mayor,
Xinhua reported in a separate story on Saturday.
*REUTERS*
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