Wednesday, February 12, 2025 – The Asia Society Policy Institute’s Center for China Analysis (CCA) has published “The Rise of CCP Young Elites and Xi Jinping’s ‘Tsinghua New Army’" by Guoguang Wu, CCA Senior Fellow on Chinese Politics. This paper explores the generational shift within the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) as cadres born in the 1980s ascend through its ranks. Notably, one institution stands out among their educational backgrounds: Tsinghua University.

“A growing technocratic and elitist trend is evident in the rise of a younger generation of CCP elites represented by the prevalence of Tsinghua graduates taking the lead in career advancement within the party-state hierarchy,” writes Wu. “This trend appears to strengthen Xi Jinping’s control of CCP elites and benefit China’s governance, though it contradicts Xi’s emphasis on the CCP’s traditional political criteria and populist values.”

Wu concludes that this trend has important political implications. First, it could enhance governance efficiency but also weaken the CCP’s social base and ties to the grassroots. Second, the CCP is aware of the contradiction between growing elitism and Xi’s emphasis on populist values and grassroots engagement and has implemented systematic measures to address it. And third, it underscores the crucial role of interpersonal networks, patron-client relationships, and personal loyalty to the leader in the CCP’s selection and management of top officials, a dynamic that will likely intensify factional competition within the regime.

“The generational rejuvenation of elites will certainly expand in the years to come. In the next nationwide reshuffling of provincial leadership in 2026–27, the frontrunners of these mid-level cadres will rise to provincial and ministerial leadership positions,” concludes Wu. “It would be unsurprising if many of them have a Tsinghua background.”

Read the full paper here. Members of the media interested in contacting Guoguang Wu should email [email protected].