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I wanted to start this thread just to add some perspective on the 6 Politburo Standing Committee members under Xi Jinping.
 
In the past few days, there were plenty of allegations thrown up in the western mainstream media and two of the recurring ones include them being rewarded with a promotion simply by being Xi Jinping’s yes men and the new team being anti-trade, anti-economic growth, anti-capitalism or at least pronouncements that economic growth ranks low on their priorities.
 
At first I did not think much of these allegations, assuming that western mainstream media made these deductions simply because their career and/or academic background had little to do with commerce and economy.
 
Now that I have had a bit of time to do some basic Wikipedia research, I am shocked that these guys in fact have very strong profiles in driving economic and business growth. IMO, it is fair to say that the western media has degenerated from exaggeration and bias reporting to now more or less outright falsehoods.
 
Here’s what a quick summary from Wiki on these guys for those who are too busy to do google research:
 
Li Qiang (Likely future Premier in charge of China’s economy)

Education: Bachelor’s in Mechanized Agriculture (Something like Mechanical Engineering?) + Masters in Business Administration
Career: Started off in the Communist Youth League. Prominent positions include Governor / Party Secretary to Zhejiang, Jiangsu, Shanghai

Wiki says

He is considered to be "business-friendly", having implemented pro-business policies policies while In Shanghai such as the opening of the STAR Market.[8][9] He has also implemented policies like lowering the threshold for internal migrants to obtain residency permits and creating five new towns to lessen the land supply shortage.[10] In 2022, Li was blamed for a two-month lockdown in Shanghai, which significantly impacted the economy.[11]  

First worked under Xi: 2005 @ Zhejiang
 
General comments: Having an MBA and leading rich and highly developed provinces for pretty much all his career, I think it’s fair to say he is the right guy for the Premier job, even more suitable from a CV perspective compared to current incumbent Li Keqiang.
 
It is also interesting that the reason why Shanghai ended up with a massive lockdown is he sort of pioneered a radical progressive approach of micro lockdowns (a.k.a. doing building level lockdowns when COVID cases are identified) which eventually failed and the entire city ended up being locked down.
 
At least on zero COVID, he is definitely one of the most garang ones to deviate from official policy at first. He also started his career in the Communist Youth League. A few years ago the western media was filled with speculation how Xi is purging the Youth League faction, so it is ironic now that a Youth League guy is actually poised to be the #2 guy in China.
 
Zhao Leji

Education: Studied Philosophy in University (transition period post cultural revolution)
Career: Started off in the Communist Youth League (again!?) as a lecturer in the Qinghai School of Commerce. Held various leadership positions in Qinghai and Shanxi, China’s poorer provinces, but apparently during his tenure these places experienced rapid economic development.
 
Wiki says

Zhao's tenure in Qinghai was marked by rapid economic growth, and a tripling of the province's GDP from the time he took office as Governor to when he left as party secretary in 2007. It was said that Zhao took a relatively soft approach on ethnic minority issues and took on environmentally conscious investment projects.   

First worked under Xi: Unknown
 
General comments: One of the hinterland guys and yet another guy from the Youth League, the faction that Xi was supposed to have purged some years ago according to the western media. So far nothing in his career indicates this guy is anti-economic growth, anti-trade or anti-capitalism. I tried to search a bit why he is considered a Xi “yes man” but couldn’t find any other than vague insinuations that he got to where he is because of Xi.
 
Wang Huning

Education: Master of Law
Career: Started off as a researcher and academic in various educational institutions. Entered politics through Jiang Zemin patronage and pretty much served in thought leadership and advisory roles all the way from Jiang to Hu and now Xi.
 
Wiki says

Having worked closely with three consecutive paramount leaders, Wang demonstrated a rare and remarkable ability to retain influence under leaders belonging to various Communist Party factions.[23

First worked under Xi: 2012 when Xi took over from Hu.
 
General comments: Obviously a political chameleon who transcends factional politics, probably also because instead of serving in executive positions, he is more like a specialist consultant. In big MNCs, these people usually serve in Centres of Excellence as subject matter experts and are less entangled in country and business unit politics.
 
Cai Qi

Education: Bachelor’s in Political Economics
Career: Worked in various leadership positions in Fujian and Zhejiang before moving to the National Security Commission (something like the US Department of Homeland Security).
 
Wiki says

 Cai was also known for his extensive use of social media and his unorthodox approach to governance.[2] Cai has referred to Xi as "Xi Dada" (Father Xi) and "Boss Xi!" in public media.[3] The Economist opined in 2017 as Cai "rocketed up the Communist Party’s ranks" that "Xi Jinping has chosen an unusual man to lead the capital city."[4] Cai is said to have been a fan of Kevin Spacey's House of Cards TV serial, and was cited as a fan of the iPhone product.[5]

 
First worked under Xi: 2004 in Zhejiang.
 
General comments: Spent most of his career in the highly developed provinces of Zhejiang and Fujian. Also probably the most unconventional and maverick of them by CCP standards. In terms of being a Xi “yes man”, this guy is the one that fits this profile the most.
 
However, I couldn’t find really find anything to really indicate that this guy simply agrees with whatever Xi says. I think western media simply assumes this because of his overt bootlicking behavior.
 
Ding Xuexiang

Education: Bachelor’s in Engineering + Masters in Public Administration
Career: Served in both research, academic and administrative areas with Shanghai Research Institute of Materials before ascension to national leadership.
 
First worked under Xi: Unknown but very likely only recently as Ding was a through and through Shanghai academic route guy and Xi was only Shanghai Party secretary for a very short stint temporarily to clean up some scandal in 2007.
 
General comments: Ding is the Science and Technology counterpart to  Wang Huning who deals more with humanities and ideology. He’s not from the executive career track and will likely serve as a subject matter expert on national matters more involving hard Sciences.
 
Nothing in his career or policy suggests he simply agrees with whatever Xi says.
 
Li Xi

Education: Degree in Linguistics + Masters in Business and Manpower Management (Direct translation from Chinese)
Career: Worked in various leadership positions all across the country from hinterlands Gansu, Shanxi and Liaoning to highly developed economic areas such as Shanghai and Guangdong.
 
First worked under Xi: Probably very late in career after national ascension to Politburo in 2017, these two men don’t appear to have crossed paths before that.
 
General comments: A balanced guy from the executive management route who has led operations in both rich coastal provinces as well as poorer western ones.
 
Nothing in his profile so far suggests he is a Xi “yes man” other than the fact that Xi is responsible for his promotion, but this logic would be circular.
 
Conclusion

If you look at these 6 members without all that emotional drama and conspiracy theories, it’s actually a very balanced committee composition. We have 4 members with extensive general leadership positions in provinces and 2 members that serve as subject matter experts.
 
Of the 4 management guys, 2 are rich costal provinces, 1 from hinterland less developed provinces and 1 diverse spanning across the spectrum. The 2 specialist guys are also balanced with one belonging to the humanities and the other the hard science discipline.
 
Education wise they are very diverse with no dominating discipline. In terms of working with Xi, 2 of them worked with Xi in their mid-career days, 2 specialists basically serve as advisors when Xi rose to the top position while the remaining 2 are not very clear.
 
In terms of ideology, Li Qiang is probably more progressive whereas Wang Huning is more conservative. There is not much information on where the remaining four stand.
 
So there you have it, the latest PSC members. Make what you will out of it.