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Just about 10 minutes to go for the big announcement. One thing's for sure (almost): Xi Jinping and Premier Li Keqiang will be staying.

Several international news organisations have not been given access to the unveiling of China's new leaders.

The Foreign Correspondents Club of China has called it "a gross violation of the principles of press freedom".

The Financial Times team in Beijing is also not happy:

Speculation has been rife about who could make it, and who won’t. Political analysts have told the BBC’s Chinese service that “young guns” like Hu Chunhua and Chen Min’er have a shot, while the South China Morning Post newspaper and the New York Times, external believe otherwise. Analyst Alexander Neill has this to say:

The congress in recent decades has become a tightly choreographed and sombre affair - but it didn't use to be like that, as Harvard Kennedy School academic Julian Gewirtz reveals:

If it all seems opaque, that’s because it is. Most decisions happened behind closed doors this past week - but here's what we do know.

• 18 October: Xi Jinping opened the congress, introduced his political philosophy
• Delegates picked provincial party chiefs, governors and heads of some state-owned enterprises
• 24 October: The party voted to enshrine “Xi Jinping Thought” into its constitution, also finalised top bodies like the Central Committee
• Today: The Central Committee elects the Politburo and Standing Committee

The size of the Standing Committee has varied over the years, but how big it is does matter. Analyst Alexander Neill has more:

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A vast and ruthless corruption drive initiated by Mr Xi has seen more than a million officials disciplined since he took power in 2012. The BBC recently did a study to see who’s been kicked out.

In the lead-up to the congress, huge banners began appearing all over the Chinese capital, extolling the virtues of the Communist Party. The BBC’s Carrie Gracie checked them out:

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Although the party has plenty of people at the bottom (nearly 90 million members, in fact) it's the man at the top who really counts.

• The party is led by the General Secretary - who is Xi Jinping

• Next comes the Politburo Standing Committee, which is expected to have between five to seven members this time
• Then the Politburo, which usually has about 25 members
• And below that is the Central Committee, which this time round has 204 members

China's most important political meeting has just ended. So what's it all about, and why should you care?

• Top party members meet every five years to pick their leaders, including who will become party chief
• The meeting sets China’s political agenda for the next five years
• It also signals who the party has prepared for China's future leadership

Read more here in our explainer.

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This is where the main event is happening today - the Great Hall of the People, Beijing’s grandest legislative building. It hosted the party congress this past week and is the venue of choice for all major political gatherings.

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Today’s event is the culmination of months of political horse-trading and negotiation, a process Mr Xi - who has amassed enormous power - would no doubt have influenced. The lineup of the final team is significant: if any of them are from a younger generation of party leaders, it could mean Mr Xi is positioning a successor. If not, it might mean he intends to stay on beyond the end of his second five-year term.

The Chinese Communist Party Congress has ended, and today's the day we will know which officials will lead China for the next five years. In about an hour's time, the new Politburo Standing Committee - China's most powerful body - will appear in front of the media. One thing seems certain: President Xi Jinping will be re-elected party leader.