China's 18th Communist Party Congress began as the world stares at the extremely secretive and highly significant once-a-decade transition of power expected to take place during the week-long political meeting.
Outgoing Chinese President Hu Jintao opened the Party Congress with a 90-minute speech during which he warned the next generation leaders that the rampant corruption in the country would mean a literal collapse of the ruling Communist Party and the state itself.
"Combating corruption and promoting political integrity, which is a major political issue of great concern to the people, is a clear-cut and long-term political commitment of the party," Hu warned the assembly of more than 2,200 party-picked delegates gathered at the Beijing's Great Hall of the People. The Chinese President, who will soon hand over the power after a decade in office, acknowledged the growing discontent over graft and other issues like environmental degradation, in his "state of the nation" address.
His call to keep corruption at bay comes at a time when a senior party leader, Bo Xilai was recently stripped of from all party positions for his involvement in a major scandal and for covering his wife Gu Kailai accused of murdering a British national, Neil Heywood. He affirmed that there is no immunity for any and said, "All those who violate party discipline and state laws, whoever they are and whatever power or official positions they have, must be brought to justice without mercy." It should be noted that the politically significant party congress comes just weeks after the New York Times reported that the family of Premier Wen Jiabao has amassed at least $2.7 billion in "hidden riches."
Hu asked the Chinese leaders to work hard to reform the uncoordinated, unbalanced and unsustainable economic development and called for innovation and urbanization to boost domestic demand. He promised more economic reforms to make its currency and interest rates more market-based and to double the household incomes. "We should firmly maintain the strategic focus of boosting domestic demand, speed up the establishment of a long-term mechanism for increasing consumer demand, unleash the potential of individual consumption, increase investment at a proper pace, and expand the domestic market," Reuters reported the excerpts of his speech.
Chinese vice president Xi Jinping is expected to be appointed the Communist Party General Secretary and the next President while current Vice Premier Li Keqiang is set to become the next premier.
