Beijing: The ruling Communist Party of China
(CPC) will hold its crucial 18th National Congress next year
here to elect new leaders to replace President Hu Jintao,
Premier Wen Jiabao and other top officials of the party.
The present leadership headed by Hu who is also the
General Secretary of the party will be replaced as he
completed two consecutive five year terms, maximum allowed.
It is widely expected that Vice President, Xi Jinping who
was nominated to the all powerful Military Commission as Vice
Chairman last year would succeed Hu, who holds the post of
Chairman of the Commission.
Xi, 58, the youngest son of Xi Zhongxun was regarded as
the first princeling to take over power in the CPC.
Xi Zhongxun was one of the founders of the Communist
guerrilla movement in Shaanxi Province in northern China and
served as former Vice-Premier was persecuted during the
Cultural Revolution by Chairman Mao Zedong as he was perceived
to be a moderate.
Married to famous folk singer Peng Liyuan, Xi Jinping
studied chemical engineering in China`s prestigious Tshinghua
university here.
He was generally described by the foreign media
pragmatic, serious, cautious, hard-working, down to earth and
low-key leader who laid more stress on problem solving.
Wen is expected to be succeeded by Vice Premier Li
Keqiang and a number of new faces were expected to be inducted
into the nine member Politburo, which constitute the
collective leadership of the CPC.
About 1,800 elected delegates of the party from all over
the country would attend the Congress which would deliberate
on all important policy issues and set a new direction for the
party and the country for the next years. The new leadership
would formally take over from the beginning of 2013.
PTI
