Beidaihe still in the spotlight to chart the future
It might no longer be the official summertime workplace resort for the mainland's political and military elite, but the Beidaihe resort is once again in the spotlight as the place for informal meetings where historic decisions are made.
China Central Television's prime-time news broadcast is usually full of footage of top leaders hosting meetings or making inspection trips. But since a heatwave in northern China last week, the only appearances have been at the small resort.
At least three political heavyweights visited the resort on Thursday, two months ahead of the most important party meeting of the year, the fifth session of the 17th party congress, at which the economic situation will be discussed.
Vice-President Xi Jinping spoke to 70 scientists lured to the mainland under a central government programme designed to attract 2,000 talented individuals.
Xi promised the scientists that their daily lives would be made easier and they would get more opportunities and a bigger stage on which to work, the People's Daily reported.
He also pledged that their talent would be used properly and they would be involved in making decisions and head important projects. Li Yuanchao, head of the Communist Party's organisation department, was also present.
Meanwhile, the head of the party's Central Commission for Discipline Inspection, He Guoqiang , met 120 grassroots anti-graft officials from Tibet and Xinjiang , who came to Beidaihe for training and relaxation.
Beidaihe, three hours' drive from Beijing, on the northern coast of Hebei province, was the official workplace for economic, political and military policymakers during the summer from the 1950s onwards and was known as the 'summer capital'.
Mao Zedong, Deng Xiaoping , Jiang Zemin and retired party elders and senior officials would gather there to discuss important political and economic issues before formal party and central government meetings.
However, its official status as the summer workplace for the Communist Party Central Committee, the State Council, the National People's Congress and the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference ended in 2003 when the new administration under President Hu Jintao and Premier Wen Jiabao decided the traditional meetings should be scrapped.
