| People's Republic of China |
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The 18th National Congress of the Communist Party of China (simplified Chinese: 中国共产党第十八次全国代表大会; traditional Chinese: 中國共產黨第十八次全國代表大會 pinyin: Zhōngguó Gòngchǎndǎng Dìshíbācì Quánguó Dàibiǎo Dàhuì, abbreviated ZhōngGòng Shíbā-dà [中共十八大]) will be the next major Communist Party Congress in China. Barring any possibility of institutional reform or systematic political change, it will be held in Beijing, China, at the Great Hall of the People sometime in the autumn of 2012. Due to term restrictions, current Paramount Leader Hu Jintao must step down as the party's General Secretary at this time, and the Congress will elect the 18th Central Committee of the Communist Party of China and will likely elect currently touted successors into power.
It is widely speculated that Xi Jinping and Li Keqiang will succeed Hu Jintao and Wen Jiabao as top Politburo Standing Committee members by October/November 2012, and take over the Presidency and Premiership in March 2013 at the National People's Congress.[1] The other PSC seats are up for grabs, with Li Yuanchao, Wang Qishan, Bo Xilai, Wang Yang, and Yu Zhengsheng, being potential candidates, based on their current positions of seniority in the Chinese political hierarchy and their age. The PSC will likely consist of seven or nine members. Chinese politics observer Willy Lam suggested that a power struggle is likely taking place between Hu's Tuanpai, or Communist Youth League Faction, Xi's Princelings faction, and remnants of former General Secretary Jiang Zemin's Shanghai clique, in the make-up of the PSC at the 18th Party Congress.[2]
Chinese politics has trended towards "collective leadership" in recent years, where the paramount leader must share power with his circle of senior leaders, particularly the Premier. Thus the ultimate position of paramount leader will not have the same amount of power accorded to it during the era of Mao and Deng.[1]
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