Ever since the 1980s, Deng Xiaoping had promoted mandatory retirement ages for senior CCP officials, which was made official in 1998. In November 2002, at the 16th Communist Party of China National Congress, then-General Secretary Jiang Zemin stepped down from the powerful Politburo Standing Committee of the Communist Party of China to make way for a younger "fourth generation" of leadership led by Tsinghua engineering graduate Hu Jintao. Speculation remained, however, that Jiang would continue to wield significant influence. At the time, Jiang stacked newly expanded Politburo Standing Committee, China's foremost power organ, with three of his hardline allies: former Shanghai secretary Huang Ju, former Beijing party secretary Jia Qinglin, and Li Changchun to control propaganda. In addition, the new Vice-President, Zeng Qinghong, was also seen as a staunch Jiang ally, as he was part of Jiang's Shanghai clique.