China plenum to open with rumours Xi won't name successor

Beijing

CHINA'S plenum of the Central Committee is opening on Monday amid rumours that President and Communist Party of China leader Xi Jinping might not step down after his second term, hence breaking a tradition imposed by his predecessors.

The annual plenum, to convene until Oct 27, will pave the way for the 19th Party Congress to be held next autumn, during which all but two members of the seven-member politburo will be renewed. It is also then that Mr Xi is to put forward the name of his successor, which he will groom for the following five years.