15th Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Party

This covers the period from 1997 to 2002. At the 15th National Congress, due to the timely intervention of Party elders such as Bo Yibo, Jiang was able to stay on as General Secretary despite being over the age of 70. However, this exception did not apply to NPC Chairman Qiao Shi, who stepped down in 1998 due to his age. However, this may have been a way for Jiang to remove a moderate challenge to his rule, as Qiao used his position to strengthen the role of the NPC in Chinese politics