Communist Party, Xi Jinping | featured news

...Just as Vice President Xi Jinping, 59, was named at the just-ended Communist Party Congress to replace President Hu Jintao, someone in the next generation of officials will likely replace Xi 10 years from now. And leading the pack, according to some party insiders and experts, is a man widely known as “Little Hu.”

China’s new leader, Xi Jinping, impressed many people with a plain-spoken promise to address problems in the country’s ruling party on Thursday, but his new leadership team offered few clues as to a clear shift in direction.

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.

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.