BEIJING/HONG KONG, Oct 22 (Reuters) - China's central bank chief Yi Gang is likely to step down after he was dropped from an elite body of the ruling Communist Party, with a former central banker a leading contender to succeed him, sources close to the central bank said. Yi is among pro-reform policymakers not named on Saturday as full or alternate members of the party's new Central Committee. Also excluded were outgoing Premier Li Keqiang, 67, economic czar Liu He, 70, and central bank party chief Guo Shuqing, 66. Yin Yong, deputy party chief in the capital Beijing who worked as a deputy central bank governor from 2016 to 2018, is a leading candidate to replace Yi, sources close to the central bank said. Xuan Changneng was named deputy central bank governor on Thursday.

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