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October 6, 2008 9:34:56 AM CDT

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All Eyes Turn to Xi Jinping

Posted Oct 26, 07 1:00 PM CDT in World 

(Newser) – Xi Jinping's appointment to the standing committee of the politburo positions him a step away from the Chinese presidency, but the man slated to rule the world's largest nation from 2012 to 2022 is an unknown quantity, writes the Guardian. The unspectacular Shanghai party boss has "no particular policies," says one China scholar, and got to the top by being "as bland as possible."

Xi's father was a vice-premier under Mao Zedong but later imprisoned for 16 years, and the young Xi was sent to the countryside for reeducation. Later he gained a doctorate from Tsinghua, the elite school that Hu Jintao also attended. A consensus candidate after Hu's chosen successor proved unpalatable to rival camps, Xi remains almost completely unknown in China—unlike his wife, a huge music star.

Source Guardian (UK)

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Xi Jinping, Shanghai Party Secretary, reacts as he is introduced to the media as part of the new Politburo Standing Committee, in Beijing's Great Hall of the People Monday Oct. 22, 2007. (AP Photo/Ng...   (Associated Press)
Xi Jinping, the 54-year-old party boss of Shanghai and the son of a revolutionary veteran speaks during a news conference after the Shanghai Delegation meeting at the 17th Communist Party Congress at...   (Associated Press)
Members of China's Politburo Standing Committee, from left, Li Changchun, Xi Jinping, Li Keqiang and He Guoqiang walk into a hall in Beijing's Great Hall of the People Monday Oct. 22, 2007. The Standing...   (Associated Press)
Communist Party General Secretary and Chinese President Hu Jintao, center, stands with the new members of the Politburo Standing Committee at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, China, Monday, Oct....   (Associated Press)
Xi Jinping, Shanghai's Communist Party chief, attends the opening of the 17th Communist Party Congress in Beijing's Great Hall of the People Monday, Oct. 15, 2007.   (Associated Press)
Xi Jinping upon his elevation to the Politburo Standing Committee.   (Getty Images)
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