Former Chinese President Hu Jintao was ousted this Saturday, October 22 Closing ceremony of the Communist Party CongressFound journalists from AFP.

Looking frail, the 79-year-old, who served as China’s president from 2003 to 2013, was pressured by staff to get up from the next seat. Xi Jinping People in the front row of the palace.

Reluctant at first, he argues before being taken by the hand by an employee who leads him to the exit. Hu Jintao conducts a final brief exchange with Xi Jinping and Premier Li Keqiang, who taps him on the shoulder.

An unprecedented third time

The former president’s unusual outing was not immediately explained or reported by state media.

Hu Jintao was surprised to look older at the start of the congress last Sunday, his hair now completely white.

Xi Jinping, 69, is due to be sworn in for a third term as party general secretary later this week, guaranteeing him an unprecedented third term as president next March.

The new Central Committee, a kind of party parliament with about 200 members, was elected shortly after 11 a.m. (5 a.m. in France) on Saturday, according to the official New China Agency, which has not yet released its composition.