http://home.kyodo.co.jp/modules/fstStory/index.php?storyid=343679
*China names new top leadership* President Hu Jintao on Monday announced the names of the eight men who will join him in China's new top leadership, in a lineup that is expected to increase his grip on power. It includes two younger men widely tipped as possible successors to Hu as head of state when he steps down as Communist Party chief, probably in 2012. They are the party's boss in Shanghai, Xi Jinping, 54, and its leader in the northeastern province of Liaoning, Li Keqiang, 52. Li is seen as Hu's favored successor to run the party. Analysts have speculated that Xi has been put forward by rival factions within the party as an alternative successor to Li. The two men share similar backgrounds. Their formative years were spent under Mao Zedong's rule and the Cultural Revolution and both have spent much of their careers in the Communist Party, having joined as young men in their 20s. Analysts say Hu has strengthened his position during the Communist Party Congress, which ended in Beijing on Sunday, with key allies promoted and rivals stepping down. Kyodo News revealed last week that Zeng Qinghong, the country's vice president, would not be running for high office. He is a key ally of former president Jiang Zemin, who runs a rival faction in the party to Hu. The congress also endorsed Hu's blueprint for the country's future development and amended the party's constitution to include parts of his political ideology, further increasing his authority within the party. He also retains his role as head of the military. Premier Wen Jiabao keeps his place in the top leadership, it was confirmed Monday. Also staying in the Politburo Standing Committee are the chairman of China's parliament Wu Bangguo, 66, the head of the country's political advisory body Jia Qinglin, 67, and media and propaganda chief Li Changchun, 63. The two other new members joining the committee are Public Security Minister Zhou Yongkang, 64, and Politburo member He Guoqiang, 63. Jiang's most prominent ally in the top leadership is now Jia, who many analysts had speculated may lose his post. The names of the new leadership were announced by Hu at a press conference at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing. Hu said, ''We will press ahead with reform and opening up and put in place systems and mechanisms that are full of vigor, highly efficient, more open and conducive to scientific development.'' ''We will pursue an independent foreign policy of peace and unswervingly follow the path of peaceful development and a win-win strategy of opening up.'' Among the policy goals outlined by Hu at the congress last week is quadrupling China's per capita gross domestic product by the year 2020, compared with the figure reached in 2000. China's economy is already expanding at a blistering pace, largely due to the booming exports of Chinese manufactured goods to the rest of the world. He also pledged to speed up the development of China's science and technology sectors to strengthen the country's economy and to continue modernizing its armed forces, although he stressed China's intentions towards neighboring countries such as Japan are peaceful. On the sidelines of the congress, Communist Party officials also ruled out any possibility of introducing, or moving toward, Western-style democracy in China. ==Kyodo [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
