Two Chinese Communist Party officials swap jobs

BEIJING: Two members of China’s Politburo, the Communist Party’s elite decision-making body, have swapped jobs, state media reported on Wednesday, without giving a reason for a reshuffle that analysts called unprecedented at this level of the Chinese hierarchy.

Shi Taifeng was named head of the party’s Organisation Department, responsible for all internal personnel decisions, while Li Ganjie was named chief of the United Front Work Department, which projects party influence over religious and ethnic minorities, as well as Hong Kong and Taiwan. State media offered no explanation. Top party officials and ministers are occasionally appointed to new positions to prevent them from building up local factions or power bases, analysts say.

However, the job swap among Politburo members was unprecedented in the history of China’s Communist Party, said Alfred Wu, associate professor at National University of Singapore. “It is not unusual for government ministers, but these two Politburo positions are very important heavyweights in the party.”