China's Premier Li Keqiang among four of seven members dropped in leadership shuffle: Report

The three other Standing Committee members who were dropped were Shanghai party chief Han Zheng, party advisory body head Wang Yang, and Li Zhanshu, a longtime Xi ally and the head of the largely ceremonial National People's Congress.

Chinese Premier Li Keqiang is among four of the seven members of the nation's all-powerful Politburo Standing Committee who will not be reappointed in a leadership shuffle that is scheduled to be held on Sunday.

According to reports, the four were not on the list of the ruling Communist Party's new 205-member Central Committee that was approved on Saturday at the closing session of a weeklong party congress that set the leadership and agenda for the next five years. Only Central Committee members can serve on the Standing Committee.

Meanwhile, the Congress also approved an amendment of the party constitution on Saturday that could further enhance Xi Jinping's stature as China's leader.

Xi, in his closing remarks, said the revision "sets out clear requirements for upholding and strengthening the party's overall leadership."

In 2017, the party elevated Xi's status by enshrining his ideas — known as "Xi Jinping Thought" — in its charter.

The three other Standing Committee members who were dropped were Shanghai party chief Han Zheng, party advisory body head Wang Yang, and Li Zhanshu, a longtime Xi ally and the head of the largely ceremonial National People's Congress.

Xi is expected to retain the top spot when the new Standing Committee is unveiled on Sunday.

It is reportedly said that about 2,000 delegates to the party congress — wearing blue surgical masks under China's strict zero-COVID policy — met in the Great Hall of the People in central Beijing.

Foreign media were not allowed into the first part of the meeting, presumably when the voting was taking place.

Police were stationed along major roads, with bright red-clad neighborhood watch workers at regular intervals in between, to keep an eye out for any potential disruptions.