Yang, border negotiator with India, promoted to elite CPC body

BEIJING: A foreign affairs expert and negotiator on the India-China border issue has been appointed to the decision-making political bureau of the Communist Party of China. The diplomat, Yang Jiechi, is expected by many to rise further and become a vice-premier in charge of foreign affairs.

The last diplomat to hold a seat in the 25-member politburo and work as a vice-premier until 2003 was Qian Qichen, who retired 14 years ago. Yang's promotion comes one day after he was elected to the party's 204-member Central Committee on Tuesday.

There have been calls from experts to appoint a diplomat to this body at a time when China is expanding its influence across the world. Some analysts also expect President Xi Jinping to appoint a senior official to head a department for implementing the Belt and Road Initiative, now enshrined in the party constitution.

Yang held the post of state councillor, advising the government on international affairs besides acting as China's special representative in the border negotiations. National security adviser Ajit Doval is India's special representative at these talks and had negotiated the Doklam border settlement with Yang and other Chinese officials. Yang was China's foreign minister before taking over as state councillor under Premier Li Keqiang in 2013.

If Yang is promoted further, the way will be open for Chinese foreign minister Wang Yi to become the next state councillor.