Li Tieying

Li Tieying, 65, has been a politburo member since 1988, having been elected at the 13th Party Congress.  A technocrat trained in Czechoslovakia, joined the army in the '60's, and later rose through the ranks of the Shenyang/Liaoning party machine, rising to Shenyang party secretary in 1981, and Liaoning party secretary in 1983.

He became a central committee member in 1985, and later that same year became Minister of the Electronics Industry. 

In 1988, he became a state councilor, serving in that role until 1998. 

Li was appointed president of Chinese Academy of Social Sciences in March 1998. 

Li's father Li Weihan did revolutionary work along with Mao Zedong.  He spent his childhood in a party nursery school in Yan'an.  His mother died in the Soviet Union during World War II.

Li's credentials are impeccable.  He is "Red" and "Expert", and young enough to continue serving in the politburo, and possibly ascend to the Standing Comittee.