【明報專訊】The dust of the 20th National Congress of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) has settled following the appearance of the new Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the Central Committee yesterday (23 October). Concerning the composition of the new Politburo, almost all the previous conjectures of observers have turned out to be wide of the mark, and many conventions of high-level personnel arrangements have also been shattered. This reflects that Xi Jinping, the General Secretary of the CCP who has started his third five-year term, has gained the absolute initiative and control over the direction of the party's organisation and personnel arrangements. The composition of high-level personnel reflects the strong influence of the new era of Xi Jinping. The official line is that the new leadership is a "body of politicians". Whether this body can lead China to meet the turbulence and upheavals over the next five years will be a severe test for them. At the same time, while Xi Jinping's re-election is conducive to China's political certainty and social stability, it remains to be seen how the shattering of the convention of confirming a successor will affect the smooth handover of political power in the future.