China, World Leader | featured news

China's communist elite are meeting to install a new generation of leaders in a process that is part public show and part backroom politicking. At the center of the spectacle is the Communist Party congress, a gathering held once every five years that is the 18th such event in the party's history. The congress is more interlude than climax. Important decisions are made by current and retired leaders, some of whom are not even on the congress delegates' roster, in bargaining that began years ago and has largely been already resolved.

The New York Times says access to its website is being blocked inside China after it published an investigation into wealth accumulated by relatives of Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao.

President Obama urged other world leaders Wednesday to reduce their reliance on exports to the United States to drive their economic growth, stressing a need to resolve global imbalances such as China's huge trade surplus.