Qiao Shi
After the death of China's paramount leader Deng Xiaoping in 1997, Jiang Zemin succeeded in excluding Qiao Shi from the CPC Central Committee and the Politburo at the 15th National Congress of the Communist Party of China by lowering the retirement age for party officials to 70 years of age, consolidating his power. In 1998, Qiao Shi, then 73, retired from politics, and largely stayed out of the public eye thereafter.