China's new leadership: The ‘fourth generation’ bring their own style of leadership

Abstract

The Tenth National People's Congress (NPC), which closed on 18 March 2003, marked the completion of an historic leadership transition in China. For the first time in the history of the People's Republic of China (PRC), the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) completed a smooth transfer of power to a new party leader. The NPC, together with the Sixteenth Party Congress (held in November 2002), saw the retirement of the post-Tiananmen leadership and the appointment of a new generation of leaders. Sometimes labelled the ‘fourth generation’ leadership, they are not well known outside China and are only now beginning to travel overseas. This article looks at the backgrounds of three key members of the new leadership and tries to assess what their policy priorities might be, and what style of leadership we can expect.