China's vice-president is among several senior leaders not selected for the new Communist Party line-up as a five-yearly congress drew to a close, Chinese state media has reported.
The Xinhua news agency said on Sunday that Zeng Qinghong had not been named to the Communist Party's central committee, along with Wu Guanzheng and Luo Gan.
The move means the three leaders will not keep their posts on the nine-member standing committee that rules China.
It also signals that Hu Jintao, China's president, will install at least four new committee members after the congress ends as Huang Ju, another committee member, died in the summer.
No reasons were given for the ommission of the three leaders but all three were either over or near the party's preferred retirement age.
The committee list was approved on the final day of the ruling Communist Party's five-yearly congress.
In closing remarks, Hu said the party would commit to a "basic line of taking economic development as the central task," and to building a "moderately prosperous society in all respects".
"With the concerted efforts of all delegates, we have held high our banner and carried forward our cause in a truth-seeking and pragmatic manner," Hu said.
Zeng, 68, was a influential party leader long associated with Hu's predecessor, Jiang Zemin.
Luo Gan is a senior security official and Wu Guanzheng is an anti-corruption chief.
Female member
Wu Yi, a vice-prime minister and the only female member of the politburo, was also leaving as was Cao Gangchuan, China's defence minister.
Jia Qinglin, 67, a long-time ally of Jiang, will remain on the committee.
The new committee will appoint a politburo of a few dozen members and an elite politburo standing committee, with an announcement on the new line-ups expected on Monday.
The membership of the politiburo and standing committee will signify how much power Hu holds, as well as who his potential successors and rivals are.
"I think what we are seeing is the outcome of fight over who should be in charge," Dr Russell Leigh Moses, from the Beijing Centre for Chinese Studies, told Al Jazeera.
"Hu Jintao is beginning to win this fight. He’s been able to put a lot of people who think the same way as he does… alongside of him.
"We're probably going to see individuals in their 50s or early 60s [in the new politburo]. I think we’re going to see individuals coming in who reflect general views that Hu Jintao has."
Li Keqiang, party leader of the northeastern industrial province of Liaoning, is thought to be among the leading contenders for promotion.
The new inner core is also likely to include Xi Jinping, a party leader from Shanghai.