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BEIJING - China on Monday unveiled a new leadership team that gave President Hu Jintao a stronger hand in governing the country and put forward potential successors to take over power from him in 2012.
Hu, 64, was given a second term as head of the ruling Communist Party and the nation's armed forces, following more than a week of closed-door meetings in Beijing during which he worked to consolidate his grip on power.
As the nation's nine new leaders were presented to the press at Beijing's Great Hall of the People, Hu said he was determined to push ahead with the nation's historic modernisation drive -- but not to do so at any cost.
"We will be firmly committed to development, which is the country's top priority in governing and rejuvenating the country," Hu said.
"We will strive for scientific development by putting people first and making it comprehensive, balanced and sustainable."
Following his re-appointments as head of the party and military, Hu is widely expected to receive a second term as state president when parliament holds its next annual session in March.
Four new younger leaders were also promoted on Monday to work alongside Hu and Premier Wen Jiabao in the party's nine-member Politburo Standing Committee, which is the country's ultimate decision-making body.
The new committee and the 25-member Politburo underneath it that was also announced Monday contained more Hu’s allies than in previous versions, which had similarly been stacked by former president Jiang Zemin before he stood down.
Hu spent much of the past five years battling the lingering influence of Jiang, who is still believed to be playing a significant role behind the scenes.
Jiang, 81, appeared prominently alongside Hu at the public events for the Communist Party's five-yearly Congress, which ended on Sunday and where the final behind-the-scenes dealings were done to finalise the new leadership team.
However, with some of Jiang's allies out of the way and with a fresh endorsement from the party, Hu now has more authority to push ahead with his economic reform plans, analysts said.
"Hu Jintao still faces difficulties, but by and large he has to be happy with his position," Willy Lam of the Chinese University of Hong Kong told AFP.
"Hu emerges as first among equals and the only one in charge of the military. Whoever controls the guns in China controls everything."
The four new faces in the Standing Committee include current Shanghai party chief Xi Jinping, who has enjoyed a meteoric rise after only taking over the leadership of China's financial hub in March.
Liaoning provincial chief Li Keqiang, known as an ally of Hu, was also thrust into the Standing Committee.
Xi, 54, and Li, 52, who were not even members of the party's Politburo before Monday, are now considered the most likely candidates to take over as president and premier following the next Communist Party Congress in 2012.
However, with two rivals in the committee and no absolute frontrunner to succeed Hu, some analysts predicted bitter back-room rivalry over the next five years.
"If people think that this succession is a done deal, it is far too early," Cheng Li, a senior fellow at the Brookings Institute in Washington, told AFP.
"It is premature to say who will succeed Hu Jintao... I think it will become ugly."
The other new faces on the Standing Committee are He Guoqiang, head of the organisation department of the party's powerful central committee for the past five years, and Zhou Yongkang, the minister of public security.
With the new appointments to the Standing Committee, the average age of its members is 62, the same as when the previous Standing Committee was appointed five years ago. - AFP/ir
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