If true — and bargaining continued to take place over the past week, according to party-connected academics in Beijing — the roster leaves out key Hu allies. It’s also heavy on older politicians who under current practice would have to retire at the next congress in five years. That’s a recipe for continued wrangling as Hu’s proteges, feeling left out, resist Xi’s rule and campaign for the next leadership, political analysts said.

‘‘China’s not a democracy but the leadership is a not a monolithic group,’’ said Cheng Li, a Chinese elite politics expert at the Brookings Institute in Washington. ‘‘Balance is important because it’s in everyone’s interests.’’

Even with unity in its ranks, Xi’s collective leadership will need the better part of a year to assemble a full team. Government offices, like the prime minister or the ceremonial state presidency Hu still holds, do not change hands until the legislature meets in March, delaying the transition.

Should Hu give up his role as head of the military commission, he can still count on the commanders he has promoted across the services of the People’s Liberation Army. Proof of that muscle came on the eve of the congress. A general whom Hu appointed to manage the military parade for the 60th anniversary of Communist rule in 2009, Fang Fenghui, was named chief of the general staff and a vice chairman of the commission.

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