The arrival of hot weather in Beijing spells the start of a sacred summer ritual — the retreat to a beach resort where, this year, party elders will enter into political deliberations over the future leaders of China’s ruling Communist party.

The Soviets had their dachas at Yalta. Donald Trump and the US billionaire crowd prefer West Palm Beach. For the Chinese Communist party, there’s Beidaihe, a moon-shaped beach on the shores of the Bohai Sea east of Beijing. 

This year, the horse-trading will be especially intense. Most of the seven members of the Politburo Standing Committee — the nation’s highest ruling body — are due to retire this fall, leaving an opening for Xi Jinping, the president, to install his protégés in his second term and underpin his legacy.