It's a man's world: no more women leaders in China's Communist Party

New Politburo Standing Committee members Xi Jinping, Li Qiang, Zhao Leji, Wang Huning, Cai Qi, Ding Xuexiang and Li Xi arrive to meet the media following the 20th National Congress of the Communist Party of China, at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, China October 23, 2022. REUTERS/Tingshu Wang

BEIJING (AFP): The Communist Party Congress has laid bare the striking gender imbalance in the upper echelons of Chinese politics, with not a single woman making the 24-person Politburo for the first time in at least a quarter of a century.As Xi Jinping and his allies concentrated power over the weekend, the party's highest-ranking woman leader retired.

Veteran politician Sun Chunlan, a vice premier overseeing China's health policies, was absent from the Central Committee list published Saturday, meaning she has stepped down.