President, Xi Jinping | featured news

HONG KONG (Reuters) - In a break from months of saber rattling, China under new President Xi Jinping appears to be moderating its approach to a potentially explosive territorial dispute with Japan and taking measures to prevent accidental conflict.

China’s new leader Xi Jinping capped his rise Thursday by adding the largely ceremonial title of president, though he will need cautious maneuvering to consolidate his power.

China's presumed next leader has made a public appearance for the first time in two weeks. The official Xinhua News Agency says Vice President Xi Jinping arrived at China Agricultural University in Beijing on Saturday for activities marking National Science Popularization Day.

With still no sign of China’s designated new leader, Xi Jinping, who has not been seen in public since Sept. 1, many insiders and well-connected analysts say the Chinese political ship is adrift, with factions jockeying to shape an impending Communist Party conclave.

China’s president-in-waiting, Xi Jinping, canceled a planned meeting in Beijing on Monday with the visiting Danish prime minister —his third no-show for a meeting with a foreign dignitary this month —fueling speculation that the country’s carefully orchestrated leadership transition had run into more unexpected turbulence.

The Communist Party official is named to a post that is considered a steppingstone for assuming the leadership. He has a reputation for being tough on corruption and friendly toward business, even foreign companies. Unless something goes badly wrong for Xi Jinping over the next two years, it looks like a fait accompli that the 57-year-old Communist Party official, who has been groomed his entire career for leadership, will be China's next president.