'Degree of inevitability' as Xi Jinping prepares to take reins from Hu Jintao

XI Jinping will be named China's new leader this morning when he is officially appointed secretary-general of the ruling Communist Party.

XI Jinping will be named China's new leader this morning when he is officially appointed secretary-general of the ruling Communist Party, succeeding Hu Jintao.

The party yesterday closed its quadrennial congress, which elected its Central Committee to run the country for the next five years. It also elected the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection, which is expected to take a more key role if its promises to weed out systemic corruption in the party are to be met.

Last week, Mr Hu identified corruption as the party's greatest problem, saying that if it continued unchecked it could cause the collapse of the organisation.

But, despite promises to increase and improve "intra-party" democracy, the nation's senior positions are still filled by backroom deals.

The congress votes are "fully democratic" but "there is a degree of inevitability", said party delegate Song Guofeng of Liaoning province, which borders North Korea, as he entered the hall.

"We need to have continuity in leadership to carry on. They are already in the leadership core. The stability of the party and of the country is important."

Real power will reside in the Central Committee's politburo, its elite Standing Committee and the Central Military Committee, the 11 people who control the 2.3 million-member People's Liberation Army, including its navy and air force. The party's selection process for its top positions has been made in secrecy, in the lead-up to its 18th congress, designed to balance the party's factions and interest groups.

The voting concluded in the late morning for about 200 Central Committee members. The state Xinhua News Agency said that Mr Xi and premier-in-waiting Li Keqiang had been voted on to the Central Committee - an expected result.

Mr Hu will hand over the ceremonial title of president to Mr Xi at the National People's Congress next March.

The CMC is largely made up of senior military officers, and a series of new appointments in key roles in the weeks ahead of the congress has given strong pointers to its new make-up. For the past two decades, the CMC has generally been headed by the secretary-general of the Communist Party or his predecessor.

At present, Mr Hu is CMC chairman and Mr Xi is its only civilian vice-chairman. Mr Hu's predecessor, Jiang Zemin, stayed on as CMC chairman after he stepped down as party chief, but a growing number of reports have suggested Mr Hu will quit the top job in the military tomorrow.

The new leaders will face slowing growth, rising unrest among increasingly assertive citizens and delicate relations with neighbouring countries.

On the eve of naming the new CMC, China has stepped up its rhetoric against Japan, accusing "right-wing forces" in the country of "collusion" with the Dalai Lama after the Tibetan leader gave a 40-minute address to 140 parliamentarians in Tokyo.

Long-running tensions between the two North Asian giants have been heightened in recent months in the territorial dispute over rocky outcrops in the East China Sea known as the Senkakus in Japan and Diaoyu in China.

In a regular briefing, Foreign Ministry spokesman Hong Lei condemned the "Japanese right-wing forces" blatant support of the Dalai Lama's anti-China separatist activities, which have infringed upon China's internal affairs".

"The Japanese government's laissez-faire attitude toward the Dalai Lama and right-wing forces is against the principle and spirit of China- Japan strategic relations of mutual benefit," Mr Hong said.

The English-language China Daily wrote: "The Dalai Lama, in his 10-day trip to Japan that began on November 4, launched a salvo of inflammatory remarks at China's ethnic policies and territorial sovereignty amid simmering tensions between China and Japan.

"Tokyo's 'nationalisation' of the islands has triggered protests across China, but during a November 5 news conference in Yokohama, Japan, the Dalai Lama referred to the Diaoyu Islands as "Senkaku", the Japanese name of the islands that have belonged to China since ancient times."

The Dalai Lama's visit comes amid a fresh spate of self-immolations by Tibetans in western China.