Xi Jinping has emerged from the 20th National Congress of the Communist Party of China with predominant power and what looks like a mandate to rule for life.

So what will the 69-year-old avowed Marxist-Leninist do with all this power and control? This the question on the minds of political and business leaders across the globe.

The headline event of the Congress was Xi’s norm-breaking third five-year-term that may well turn into lifetime power -- and how this has cemented his role as the all-powerful, indisputable leader that he has spent the past decade striving to become.

Analysis of the new leadership of the CPC is usually focused on the backgrounds, skillsets, policy ideas and performance of the ruling 7-member Politburo Standing Committee. This time around the spotlight is on their record of loyalty to Secretary-General Xi. By this measure, Xi has run the table in promoting loyalists and sidelining those with connections to other leaders or independent ideas.

Those sidelined include the second and fourth ranked members of the past standing committee, Premier Li Keqiang and advisory conference chief Wang Yang, who by Party norms were still young enough to serve another term. Both are considered allies of former Party boss Hu Jintao, who was unceremoniously shuffled off the stage before Xi’s closing speech.

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