OCT 23 — China's Communist Party wrapped up its twice-a-decade congress yesterday, approving amendments cementing Xi Jinping's iron grip on the party and revealing a new Central Committee missing two key officials lacking close ties to the leader.

* Xi is poised to clinch his third five-year stint in charge - a mandate that would secure his place as the country's most powerful ruler since founding leader Mao Zedong.

* The big reveal - who will be on powerful, seven-member Politburo Standing Committee - will be at about 0400 GMT today when Xi walks into a room of journalists at Beijing's Great Hall of the People, followed by the other members in descending order of rank.

* In a highly unusual situation, Chinese former President Hu Jintao was unexpectedly escorted out of the congress's closing ceremony.

* The party's new 205-member Central Committee did not include outgoing Premier Li Keqiang or former Guangdong party boss Wang Yang, who had been seen as a potential replacement as premier.

* China's central bank chief Yi Gang is also likely to step down after he was dropped from an elite body of the ruling Communist Party, sources close to the central bank said.

* Little is known about who will be promoted into which key roles on the PSC or the broader Politburo - although the number of women is likely to remain very small. Here are some of the leading contenders and some scenarios to look out for.

* Leaders face a difficult time. The world's second-largest economy is slowing and facing a potentially painful rebalancing of its investment- and property-led model.

* China's approach to foreign policy is also in the spotlight after a Hong Kong protester was dragged into the Chinese consulate in Manchester on Sunday and assaulted in an incident which the police are investigating.

* Xi opened the week-long, twice-a-decade session last Sunday with a speech touting China's fight against Covid-19, the party's safeguarding of national security, maintaining social stability, and taking control of the situation in Hong Kong, which was rocked by anti-government protests in 2019. He re-emphasised the importance of economic development and also called for accelerating the building of a world-class military. — Reuters