When China’s political elites gather behind closed doors in Beijing for the Communist Party’s fifth plenum on Monday, much of the attention will be on the quiet preparations for allocating hundreds of pivotal roles in next year’s 21st party congress.
At the heart of this transition is the rise of the party’s seventh generation – often referred to as the 7G – who were born in the late 1960s and the 1970s and whose ascent will be critical in shaping China’s political trajectory.
Xie Maosong, a senior researcher at Tsinghua University’s National Institute of Strategic Studies, said the party was looking for cadres who had “absolute political loyalty, integrity, fighting spirit, technological or ‘hard science’ expertise, grass-roots experience and hardship resilience”.
“Just like their predecessors, they must demonstrate unquestioned loyalty and integrity. But given China’s technological advancement into uncharted areas, the new leaders will have to know emerging technology and hard science as China can no longer copy from others.”