At the 13th Party Congress of the CCP in October–November 1987, Deng Xiaoping and remaining Party elders formally stepped down from power. This included a number of hard-liner Maoists who had resisted Deng's policies, including Chen Yun and Li Xiannan. The new leadership of the Central Committee averaged 5.5 years younger, and more than 70% were college educated. However, even with the retirement of the aged Long March veterans, they still retained considerable political pull behind the scenes, and one complaint of the student demonstrators in 1989 was the continued political influence exerted by party officials who were supposed to be retired. It was speculated that the appointment of Li Peng, a known political hardliner, as premier was a concession to Deng Xiaoping's opponents. The major policy declaration of the 13th Congress was formal endorsement of "market" socialism and that it was necessary to "adapt the principles of socialism to fit reality rather than bend reality to fit ideology."