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The NewsFuror

Monday, October 22, 2007

Chinese party unveils new leaders


China's Communist Party has unveiled the leadership line-up that will steer the country for the next five years.

President Hu Jintao won a second term as party and army chief, while four new faces joined the party's top body, the Politburo Standing Committee.

They included two men seen as potential successors to Mr Hu in 2012 - Shanghai party chief Xi Jinping and Liaoning province's Li Keqiang.

The changes were announced at the end of the party's five-yearly congress.

The powerful nine-member Standing Committee was elected by the party's 204-member Central Committee.


STANDING COMMITTEE
Hu Jintao
Wu Bangguo
Wen Jiabao
Jia Qinglin
Li Changchun
Xi Jinping *
Li Keqiang*
He Guoqiang*
Zhou Yongkang *
* denotes new member

Premier Wen Jiabao was reappointed to the committee, indicating another term in office for him.

He Guoqiang, the party's organisation chief, and Zhou Yongkang, the minister for public security, were the other two new additions to the committee.

The four new members replace three of the country's most senior leaders - Vice President Zeng Qinghong and lawmakers Luo Gan and Wu Guanzheng - who are stepping down.

A fourth committee member, Huang Ju, died in the summer.

Heir apparent

The new line-up appeared together in Beijing's Great Hall of the People, all wearing black suits and red ties.

They walked out onto the stage in order of rank, with Xi Jinping at the head of the new appointees.

Chinese Communist tradition dictates that the first new face of the new generation becomes the heir apparent.

So as things stand right now, Xi Jinping can expect to take over from Hu Jintao in 2012, our correspondent says.

Mr Xi, 54, the son of a high-ranked party elder, has held top party positions in several provinces, most recently in Shanghai after the party leader there, Chen Liangyu, was sacked for corruption.

But the man who followed him onto the stage, 52-year-old Li Keqiang, is also seen as contender for the presidency.

A law graduate of Peking University, he won plaudits for his work to revitalise the economy in the north-eastern province of Liaoning.

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