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After striding out in Beijing's Great Hall of the People as the party's new general-secretary, succeeding President Hu Jintao, Xi vowed to fight official corruption and build a "better life" for the nation's 1.3 billion people/AFP

Focus on China

China unveils new leadership with Xi at helm

Analysts were poring over the new leadership lineup to gauge whether reformers or conservatives had the upper hand, but stressed that continuity and stability reigned supreme in the communist system.

“I think that this is the result of compromise and consensus among different groups,” Chinese University of Hong Kong associate professor Tsao King Kwun said.

The process was essentially finalised Wednesday when the party ended its week-long congress by announcing a new 200-strong Central Committee. On Thursday it approved higher leadership bodies including the Politburo Standing Committee.

The elite group is tasked with addressing a rare deceleration of economic growth that threatens the party’s key claim to legitimacy — continually improving the livelihoods of the country’s people.

China also bubbles with localised unrest often sparked by public rage at corruption, government abuses, and the myriad manifestations of anger among the millions left out of the country’s economic boom.

China’s economy, which relies heavily on manufactured exports, has been stunningly successful in lifting hundreds of millions out of poverty.

But the party acknowledges the model is becoming unsustainable as the economy matures and demands for higher living standards grow, and Hu last week called for a new approach with a robust private sector and stronger domestic demand.

How the new leadership under Xi will address these challenges in the world’s most populous nation remains unclear.

Observers believe that two main factions have been jockeying for power, one centred largely on proteges of Jiang — who has made a surprise political comeback — and another linked to allies of Hu.

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Xi is considered a consensus figure who leans toward Jiang, while Li has long been seen as a Hu protege.

The run-up to this year’s congress was unsettled by events surrounding Bo Xilai, a political star seen as a candidate for a top post until a scandal in which his wife was convicted of murdering a British businessman.

 

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