Youthful Look for China Politburo

In a triumph for top leader Deng Xiaoping, the Communist Party promoted five younger policy-makers to the ruling Politburo today, replacing old revolutionaries with a new generation to guide China’s reform.

But the scale of the transition was less than diplomats and Chinese sources had forecast, and there was no replacement in the Politburo Standing Committee for Marshal Ye Jianying, who retired last week. All of the new Politburo appointees are Deng proteges and have advanced rapidly in the party apparatus since he emerged as senior leader in 1978.