China’s Economic Destiny In Doubt After Leadership Shock

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Hu Jintao (L) And Jiang Zemin Attend the 100th Anniversary Of China’s 1911 Revolution. The 86-year Mr Jiang — who rose to supreme leader on the bones of Muxidi and Tiananmen in 1989 — has placed his accolytes in charge of the economy, propaganda, as well as the Shanghai party machine. Photo: Getty Images

China’s economic destiny in doubt after leadership shock (Telegraph, Nov 5, 2012):

If reports from the Hong Kong press and China’s blogosphere are correct, a remarkable upset has occurred on the eve of the ten-year power shift next week — the greatest turn-over of top cadres since Mao’s revolution.

The South China Morning Post says the new line-up of the Politburo’s Standing Committee is “packed with conservatives”. The succession deal agreed over the summer has been scuppered.

The 86-year Mr Jiang — who rose to supreme leader on the bones of Muxidi and Tiananmen in 1989 — has placed his accolytes in charge of the economy, propaganda, as well as the Shanghai party machine.

The hardliners seem poised to snatch control of the seven-man Committee, tying the hands of incoming president Xi Xinping and premier Li Keqiang. If confirmed, long-term investors may have to rethink their core assumption about the future course of China.

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