China's 'princeling' Xi Jinping was on Thursday crowned the new head of the ruling CPC and the powerful military in a smooth transition to steer the world's second largest economy over the next decade, ending the 10-year reign of President Hu Jintao amid concerns over rampant corruption and widening rich-poor divide.
59-year-old Xi, who was the Vice President till now, will replace Hu as President in March, while Li Keqiang, 57, will succeed Prime Minister Wen Jiabao, capping years of jockeying within the Communist Party of China, the world's biggest political party which has monopolised power here since 1949. Shortly after he was elected CPC General Secretary in a carefully choreographed event held at the ornate Great Hall of the People here, a confident-looking Xi stepped on to a special stage in front of a large local and foreign media and introduced six other 'fifth generation' leaders, who together formed the party's all-powerful Politburo Standing Committee.
Sounding candid in his first speech, he spoke of the rampant corruption within the party and its alienation from people, identifying them as major issues to be addressed. ‘Under the new conditions, our party faces many severe challenges, and there are also many pressing problems within the party that need to be resolved, particularly corruption, being divorced from the people, going through formalities and bureaucratism caused by some party officials,’ he said. ‘We must make every effort to solve these problems. The whole party must stay on full alert,’ Xi said.
It was a head-start for Xi unlike his predecessor Hu as he was also appointed military chief on Thursday, making him the most powerful leader in the country.
An official announcement said that Xi will also be the head of the Central Military Commission, which controls the Command structure of 2.3-million strong People's Liberation Army (PLA), the world's largest standing military. Xi was earlier the Vice Chairman of the Commission.
Hu had to wait for two years to get the top military position after becoming the CPC chief in 2002 as his predecessor Jiang Zemin, regarded as the 'Big Boss' of the party, remained head of the Military Commission even after quitting as the General Secretary of the party.
Hu's move to step down from the military surprised many as he carried out a major reshuffle of the PLA command recently, packing it with Generals groomed by him. He apparently believes that retired leaders should not have any active role in the present administration and the new leadership should be given free hand to carry out the fresh policies to revive the sluggish economy and deal with other challenges facing the country.Former President Jiang, however, took the centre stage at the week-long 18th Party Congress, both at its inaugural and valedictory meetings sitting between Hu and Wen.
59-year-old Xi, who was the Vice President till now, will replace Hu as President in March, while Li Keqiang, 57, will succeed Prime Minister Wen Jiabao, capping years of jockeying within the Communist Party of China, the world's biggest political party which has monopolised power here since 1949. Shortly after he was elected CPC General Secretary in a carefully choreographed event held at the ornate Great Hall of the People here, a confident-looking Xi stepped on to a special stage in front of a large local and foreign media and introduced six other 'fifth generation' leaders, who together formed the party's all-powerful Politburo Standing Committee.
Sounding candid in his first speech, he spoke of the rampant corruption within the party and its alienation from people, identifying them as major issues to be addressed. ‘Under the new conditions, our party faces many severe challenges, and there are also many pressing problems within the party that need to be resolved, particularly corruption, being divorced from the people, going through formalities and bureaucratism caused by some party officials,’ he said. ‘We must make every effort to solve these problems. The whole party must stay on full alert,’ Xi said.
It was a head-start for Xi unlike his predecessor Hu as he was also appointed military chief on Thursday, making him the most powerful leader in the country.
An official announcement said that Xi will also be the head of the Central Military Commission, which controls the Command structure of 2.3-million strong People's Liberation Army (PLA), the world's largest standing military. Xi was earlier the Vice Chairman of the Commission.
Hu had to wait for two years to get the top military position after becoming the CPC chief in 2002 as his predecessor Jiang Zemin, regarded as the 'Big Boss' of the party, remained head of the Military Commission even after quitting as the General Secretary of the party.
Hu's move to step down from the military surprised many as he carried out a major reshuffle of the PLA command recently, packing it with Generals groomed by him. He apparently believes that retired leaders should not have any active role in the present administration and the new leadership should be given free hand to carry out the fresh policies to revive the sluggish economy and deal with other challenges facing the country.Former President Jiang, however, took the centre stage at the week-long 18th Party Congress, both at its inaugural and valedictory meetings sitting between Hu and Wen.