New leaders in China

Chinese Communist leaders meet in Beijing for the party’s once-in-a-decade power transition.

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Nov. 15, 2012

From left, Xi Jinping, Li Keqiang, Zhang Dejiang, Yu Zhengsheng, Liu Yunshan, Wang Qishan and Zhang Gaoli greet the media at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing. China's Communist Party revealed its new Politburo Standing Committee after its 18th congress concluded. Xi, the 59-year-old son of a famed Communist revolutionary general, was named to the party’s top position, general secretary. He will also take over in March as the country’s president from outgoing leader Hu Jintao. In a surprise, Hu also relinquished his title as chairman of the Central Military Commission, the body that runs China’s 2.3 million-member army.

Feng Li / Getty Images

Nov. 15, 2012

The Chinese Communist Party's new Politburo Standing Committee, the nation's top decision-making body — from left: Zhang Gaoli, Liu Yunshan, Zhang Dejiang, Xi Jinping, Li Keqiang, Yu Zhengsheng and Wang Qishan — meet the press at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing. Xi and the other leaders walked onstage at 11:55 a.m., more than a half-hour later than expected. Xi introduced his new leadership team and spoke for about 10 minutes before they filed off the stage.

Mark Ralston / AFP/Getty Images

Nov. 15, 2012

Members of the new Politburo Standing Committee — from left, Zhang Dejiang, Xi Jinping and Li Keqiang — greet the media at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing. “Our journey ahead is long and arduous,” Xi said. “We must always be of one heart and mind with the people.” Xi, in his remarks, said the party’s trust and people’s expectations “are a source of tremendous encouragement for us, and put enormous responsibility on our shoulders.” He said his main job was to “steadfastly take the road of prosperity for all.”

Feng Li / Getty Images

Nov. 15, 2012

Chinese Communist Party General Secretary Xi Jinping, left, speaks as other new members of the Politburo Standing Committee — from second left, Zhang Gaoli, Liu Yunshan, Zhang Dejiang, Li Keqiang, Yu Zhengsheng and Wang Qishan — stand in Beijing's Great Hall of the People. Xi said the ruling Communist Party would be “proud but not complacent, and we will never rest on our laurels.” He said the party suffered from problems of “corruption, taking bribes, being out of touch with the people, [and] undue emphasis on bureaucracy and formalities.”

Vincent Yu / AP

Nov. 15, 2012

Xi Jinping, forefront, delivers a speech as the other members of new seven-seat Politburo Standing Committee — from left, Zhang Gaoli, Liu Yunshan, Zhang Dejiang, Li Keqiang, Yu Zhengsheng and Wang Qishan — stand beside him in the Great Hall of the People. What direction Xi and the other new leaders will take is not known. While waiting in the wings for five years, Xi has carefully avoided giving any hint of his priorities, remaining strictly neutral to avoid endangering his status as heir among the party’s competing factions

Feng Li / Getty Images

Nov. 15, 2012

Xi Jinping is seen during a news broadcast at a subway station in Beijing, China. Xi replaced Hu Jintao as head of the Chinese Communist Party and the nation's military, ushering in the fifth generation of leaders who are set to run the world's second-biggest economy over the next decade.

Tomohiro Ohsumi / Bloomberg

Nov. 14, 2012

A Chinese paramilitary policeman raises the Chinese flag in Tiananmen Square near the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, where the closing ceremony for the 18th Chinese Communist Party Congress was held.

Lee Jin-man / AP

Nov. 14, 2012

Chinese paramilitary officers march in Tiananmen Square after the closing ceremony of the party congress.

Diego Azubel / European Pressphoto Agency

Nov. 14, 2012

Chinese plain-clothes security personnel watch over a corridor during the closing session of the party congress in the Great Hall of the People.

Ng Han Guan / AP

Nov. 14, 2012

Delegates and officials wait for the closing ceremony of the party congress at the Great Hall of the People. China’s Communist Party on Nov. 15 will unveil the new set of leaders who will run the country for the next decade.

Mark Ralston / AFP/Getty Images

Nov. 14, 2012

Delegates enter the main hall inside the Great Hall of the People. President Hu Jintao stepped aside as Communist Party premier, clearing the way for Vice President Xi Jinping to take the helm in China.

Alexander F. Yuan / AP

Nov. 14, 2012

Photographed with a fish-eye lens, China’s leaders and delegates are seated on the podium during the closing ceremony of the party congress.

Diego Azubel / European Pressphoto Agency

Nov. 14, 2012

A military band conductor gestures as China’s top leaders stand in the background at the end of the closing ceremony of the party congress.

Diego Azubel / European Pressphoto Agency

Nov. 14, 2012

Chinese President Hu Jintao, left, and former president Jiang Zemin attend the closing session of the party congress. Hu will step down as president in March.

Feng Li / Getty Images

Nov. 14, 2012

A special invited Buddhist monk delegate reads the Communist Party’s Central Committee report during the closing session.

Feng Li / Getty Images

Nov. 14, 2012

China’s leaders stand as they listen to “The Internationale,” the anthem of communists around the world, during the closing session of the party congress. Members of the standing committee of the political bureau of the new Chinese Communist Party’s Central Committee will meet with journalists on Nov. 15.

Feng Li / Getty Images

Nov. 14, 2012

Party representatives vote during the closing of the party congress, which has been convened since Nov. 8.

Lintao Zhang / Getty Images

Nov. 14, 2012

China's Vice President Xi Jinping, who is expected to be elected the nation’s next leader, casts his ballot during the closing session of the party congress.

Li Xueren / Xinhua News Agency via Reuters

Nov. 14, 2012

A military delegate walks down stairs at the Great Hall of the People during the closing ceremony of the Chinese Communist Party Congress in Beijing.

Ed Jones / AFP/Getty Images

Nov. 14, 2012

Chinese Communist Party delegates hold red voting ticket holders while they leave the Great Hall of the People after the closing ceremony for the party congress.

Alexander F. Yuan / AP

Nov. 14, 2012

A delegate sits on a bus in Tiananmen Square as it prepares to leave after the closing ceremony of the party congress.

Ed Jones / AFP/Getty Images

Nov. 14, 2012

Delegates walk outside the Great Hall of the People after the closing ceremony of the Chinese Communist Party Congress in Beijing.

Ed Jones / AFP/Getty Images

Nov. 13, 2012

Chinese paramilitary police officers march during the flag-lowering ceremony in front of a giant portrait of Mao Zedong at Beijing’s Tiananmen Square. The 18th Chinese Communist Party Congress will close Nov. 14 after electing members and alternate members of a new Central Committee and members of a new Central Commission for Discipline Inspection.

Feng Li / Getty Images

Nov. 13, 2012

Workers check the security camera on the top of the Great Hall of the People in Beijing.

Feng Li / Getty Images

Nov. 13, 2012

A Chinese man uses a computer at the press center at the congress. During China’s last party congress, the cadres in charge of the world’s most populous nation didn’t know a hashtag from a hyperlink. But five years on, there’s a new message from Beijing: The political transition will be microblogged.

Ng Han Guan / AP

Nov. 13, 2012

A paramilitary policeman stands guard at the Tiananmen Gate of the Forbidden City in Beijing.

Carlos Barria / Reuters

Nov. 13, 2012

Women wearing volunteer armbands pass in front of a billboard extolling the 18th Chinese Communist Party Congress.

Adrian Bradshaw / European Pressphoto Agency

Nov. 12, 2012

Chinese paramilitary police march past a sign saying "Serve the Party and the People" at their barracks, beside the Great Hall of the People in Beijing.

Mark Ralston / AFP/Getty Images

Nov. 12, 2012

A Beijing sixth-grader named Zhang Jiapeng, third from left, waits for the delegates during a news conference during the 18th National Congress of the Communist Party of China in Beijing.

Wang Zhao / AFP/Getty Images

Nov. 12, 2012

China’s Minister of Housing and Urban-Rural Development Jiang Weixin answers a reporter’s question during a news conference at the media center of the 18th Chinese Communist Party Congress in Beijing.

Lee Jin-man / AP

Nov. 12, 2012

Zhou Shengxian, minister and secretary of the CPC Party Committee of the Ministry of Environmental Protection, gives a thumbs-up at a news conference during the 18th National Congress of the Communist Party of China in Beijing.

Wang Zhao / AFP/Getty Images

Nov. 12, 2012

A delegate from Guangdong province, Yan Wenjing, center, answers questions from the media at a collective interview during the 18th National Congress of the Communist Party of China in Beijing.

Wang Zhao / AFP/Getty Images

Nov. 12, 2012

A Tibetan activist shouts pro-Tibet slogans after chaining himself to a post near the front gate of the Chinese Embassy in New Delhi. The Dalai Lama said Sunday that China is more interested in criticizing him than finding the reason behind a spate of Tibetan self-immolations. The comments are thought to be the Dalai Lama’s first on the issue since the Communist Party congress began in Beijing on Thursday.

Roberto Schmidt / AFP/Getty Images

Nov. 11, 2012

Officials attend a news conference during the 18th National Congress of the Communist Party of China in Beijing. Chinese Vice President Xi Jinping had moved closer to taking the reins of power and is expected to replace President Hu Jintao as party chief in a once-a-decade power transition, setting the stage for his promotion to president of the world's most populous nation, expected by March 2013.

Wang Zhao / AFP/Getty Images

Nov. 11, 2012

Xiao Gang, chairman of Bank of China Ltd., attends a news conference at the 18th National Congress of the Communist Party of China in Beijing. Central bank Governor Zhou Xiaochuan highlighted the effects on China of what he termed five years of crisis, adding to officials' cautions on the economic outlook even after a rebound in exports.

Tomohiro Ohsumi / Bloomberg News

Nov. 11, 2012

Zhou Xiaochuan, left, governor and secretary of the Communist Party of China Party Committee of the People's Bank of China, attends a news conference during the 18th National Congress of the Communist Party of China in Beijing.

Wang Zhao / AFP/Getty Images

Nov. 11, 2012

China's Central Bank Governor Zhou Xiaochuan, right; Shang Fulin, center, chairman of China Banking Regulatory Commission; and Xiao Gang, chairman of Bank of China Ltd., leave a news conference held on the sidelines of the 18th National Congress of the Communist Party of China in Beijing.

Jason Lee / Reuters

Nov. 11, 2012

Zhou Xiaochuan, left, governor and Communist Party chief of China’s Central Bank, and Shang Fulin, chairman and Communist Party chief of China's Banking Regulatory Commission, chat during a news conference held at the media center of the 18th Chinese Communist Party Congress in Beijing.

Alexander F. Yuan / AP

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