Unprecedented Job Swaps of CCP Officials Indicate Xi’s Waning Power: Analysts

It’s ‘extraordinary’ that the heads of two crucial state departments swapped roles midway through their five-year terms, an analyst says.

A security guard stands at his post during the opening session of the National People's Congress (NPC) at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing on March 5, 2024. (Photo by WANG Zhao / AFP) Photo by WANG ZHAO/AFP via Getty Images

Two high-ranking Chinese Communist Party (CCP) officials have swapped their roles halfway through their five-year terms. The unprecedented move, unveiled ahead of a key political meeting held every five years, may indicate growing pressures on Chinese leader Xi Jinping from rival factions within the CCP, according to analysts.

Li Ganjie, former head of the Organization Department, is now in charge of the United Front Work Department, which focuses on expanding the Party’s influence internationally. Shi Taifeng, who succeeded Li at the Organization Department, now manages the Party’s personnel affairs.

China’s state media confirmed the unexpected leadership swap on April 2, which addressed the two officials with their new titles for the first time.

The reshuffle occurred ahead of a secret Party conclave, traditionally tasked with addressing personnel matters. While the date for this meeting—known as the fourth plenum—has yet to be confirmed, it is typically held at roughly the midpoint of the Party Congress, a landmark event on China’s political calendar.

The CCP reorganizes its leadership during its Congress every five years, with behind-the-scenes preparations often beginning years in advance. The next one, the 21st National Congress, is expected to take place in late 2027. As current officials, including Xi, approach the end of their terms, China watchers closely monitor for any signs of power transitions.

So far, the CCP hasn’t offered a reason for the Li–Shi job swap, which some Hong Kong media have described as unprecedented in the decades-long history of communist rule in China.

Analysts suggested that Li may have been demoted, as his new role is less influential than his previous one.

“The head of the Organization Department is a very significant position,” potentially a stepping stone into the Party’s topmost body, the Politburo Standing Committee, whereas “the chances of the United Front Work Department head reaching such heights are relatively slim,” Shen Ming-Shih, a research fellow at the Institute for National Defense and Security Research, a Taiwanese defense ministry-funded think tank, told The Epoch Times.

Li, 60, is the youngest among the 24 members of the powerful Politburo and is perceived to be part of Xi’s inner circle.

Li graduated from Tsinghua University, which is also Xi’s alma mater. Li worked his way up the nuclear and environmental bureaucracy over the years. In 2006, Li was appointed the head of the National Nuclear Safety Administration. After a significant reshuffle of state institutions in 2018 aimed at strengthening Party control, Li became the first minister of the Ministry of Ecology and Environment.

His political career took off in 2020 when he was named the deputy governor of Shandong Province, an industrial hub on China’s east coast. Within 17 months, Li was named Party chief of the province.

In October 2022, following the 20th Party Congress where Xi secured his unprecedented third term as Party leader, Li was elevated to the Politburo, the second-highest leadership panel in China.

In April 2023, state media disclosed Li’s appointment to the Organization Department, a position he assumed from Chen Xi, who was 69 at the time, apparently adhering to an unspoken retirement ceiling for high-ranking Party officials.

CCP's Central Committee Political Bureau member Li Ganjie (R) attends the opening ceremony of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC) in Beijing on March 4, 2023. Noel Celis/AFP via Getty Images

While Li’s political path hasn’t directly intersected with Xi’s, analysts point to his ties with Chen, a longtime ally of the CCP leader. Chen was a classmate and roommate of Xi at Tsinghua University in the 1970s and remains influential as the president of the Central Party School, the highest ideology training ground for Party cadres in the nation and a prerequisite for joining the upper echelons of the Chinese regime’s political hierarchy.

Xi’s Power Waning?

Shen, an expert in Chinese politics, noted that the Li–Shi job swap might indicate a possible shift in Xi’s trust.

“Li Ganjie is a member of Xi Jinping’s faction, so Shi Taifeng’s takeover of Li’s job might indicate that [Xi’s] confidence in Li is waning,” Shen told The Epoch Times.

Another possibility, according to Shen, is that this personnel change is tied to ongoing power struggles within the Party’s elite.

A sweeping anti-corruption purge has roiled the Party’s senior members and military elites. In the past two years, the military alone has witnessed the fall of more than a dozen senior commanders and defense industry leaders, some of whom were Xi’s close allies.

The most recent target was Adm. Miao Hua, who oversaw the armed forces’ loyalty to the Communist Party. In November 2024, Miao was suspended from the powerful Central Military Commission, although he still retains his title as a Politburo member.

This series of purges has triggered speculation among outside observers that Xi faces growing challenges from opposing factions within the Party. Some believe that Xi’s health, whether political or physical, has taken a turn for the worse.

Shen said Xi may not have ordered the latest reshuffle amid the political infighting.

“Li Ganjie is a member of Xi Jinping’s clique, so [the reshuffling] suggests a potential weakening of Xi’s grip on power; perhaps [it has] already fallen into others’ hands,” Shen said.

“Xi may even step down during the fourth plenum or the 21st National Congress. If this is the case, it could be high-ranking Party elders or others who appoint Shi Taifeng to manage personnel matters for the 21st National Congress.”

CCP's Central Committee Political Bureau member Shi Taifeng (L) votes next to Foreign Minister Wang Yi during the closing session of China's rubber-stamp legislature, the National People's Congress, in Beijing on March 11, 2025. Pedro Pardo/AFP via Getty Images

As the new head of the Organization Department, Shi, 68, now oversees the vetting process of the Party’s new leadership appointments.

Shi’s ties with Xi date back more than two decades to their time at the Central Party School. Shi, who was the vice president at the top Party school, worked alongside Xi, who was the institution’s president for more than five years before becoming Party leader in late 2012.

However, analysts point out that Shi’s connections extend beyond Xi. During Shi’s nine-year tenure as vice president at the Central Party School, he also served under two other presidents: Zeng Qinghong, a Party elite associated with a powerful clique opposed to Xi, and Hu Jintao, Xi’s predecessor.

Cai Shenkun, an independent commentator who has long watched China’s politics, said Shi also has close ties with the late former Chinese Premier Li Keqiang and that they were classmates at the law school in China’s elite Peking University. Li Keqiang was a member of a political rival faction known as the Youth League, or Tuan Pai.

Nevertheless, Cai said the leadership shift in the Organization Department reflects the previous head’s performance.

“Li Ganjie’s handling of organizational and personnel matters over the years didn’t meet Xi’s expectations,” he told The Epoch Times.

He said that it was “extraordinary” that the heads of two key state departments swapped roles midway through their five-year terms.

Luo Ya contributed to this report.