New China Leadership

More than 2,000 delegates to China's 18th Party Congress are meeting in Beijing this week to approve changes to the party's constitution and pick the next central committee, a group of about 200 people from whose ranks comes the Politburo, now with 24 people, and its standing committee, now with nine men. The standing committee wields supreme power in China. Vice President Xi Jinping is forecast to replace Hu Jintao as general secretary of the 82 million-member Communist Party.

Special Report Features

Hu Keeping Military Post May Weaken China’s Xi as Tensions Flare
Xi Jinping may have to wait two years to gain control of the world’s largest army after he takes the Communist Party’s top job this week, a delay that may weaken China’s ability to address tensions with Japan and the U.S.
Harvard-Trained Communists Vie for Influence as Party Gathers
China’s central bank governor and statistics chief signaled October data to be published from today will show growth improving this quarter in the world’s second-largest economy.
Hu Sets China Income Target for Xi as Communists Gather
President Hu Jintao said China must double per-capita income by 2020, setting a target for the incoming generation of leaders to be unveiled at the close of a Communist Party Congress that started today.
Mao Zedong Wouldn’t Like Chinese Society Today, Rittenberg Says
China has become a place Mao Zedong would not like “because it has lost its soul,” said Sidney Rittenberg Sr., who worked as a translator for the former leader of the world’s most-populous nation.
Xi Gains Power Mixing Father’s Capitalism With Mao’s Marxism
Days after Xi Jinping became chief in 2002 of Zhejiang, China’s hotbed of private enterprise, he set out on a tour of the province. His message: more capitalism.
China’s Wealthiest Discreetly Stay Away at Party Congress
Zong Qinghou, China’s richest man, traveled to Beijing in March to represent his home province at the annual meeting of the country’s legislature. He won’t be going to next month’s Communist Party congress that will unveil China’s new generation of leaders.
China Communists Near Soviet Tenure as Leader Pick Looms
China’s Communist Party will approach its defunct Soviet counterpart in longevity in power after it navigates the leadership succession clouded by concern over Xi Jinping’s status, a Bloomberg News survey indicates.
Xi-Li Inheriting Weakest Economy Growth Since Deng Opened China
China’s new leaders are poised to inherit the weakest economic growth since Deng Xiaoping three decades ago and may need to borrow from his market-opening tool kit to avert a steeper decline.
Xi Jinping Millionaire Relations Reveal Fortunes of Elite
Xi Jinping, the man in line to be China’s next president, warned officials on a 2004 anti-graft conference call: “Rein in your spouses, children, relatives, friends and staff, and vow not to use power for personal gain.”