The Communist Party opened its annual meeting yesterday in Beijing to discuss the nation's next five-year plan amid heightened security, but analysts are looking for a likely personnel reshuffle amid growing speculation that political reform could also be on the agenda.
Xinhua said the meeting - expected to be attended by President Hu Jintao, Premier Wen Jiabao, and other top leaders - opened 'to discuss proposals for the nation's next five-year development plan' to 2015. It was held in a heavily guarded hotel.
Observers are waiting to see whether Vice-President Xi Jinping will be promoted to the vice-chairmanship of the Central Military Commission. If so, it would cement his status as heir-apparent to Hu, who gives up his position as the party's general secretary in 2012 and his presidency in March, 2013.
Observers will also be watching for any sign of political reform, which has stalled since the Tiananmen crackdown in 1989. Speculation has mounted that reform could be a hot topic after Wen - widely viewed as more liberal-minded - issued an unusually strong call for political reform. The calls intensified after jailed dissident Liu Xiaobo won the Nobel Peace Prize last week.
Some analysts see Wen's statements as a sign that divisions are widening and factions are forming within the party's highest echelons.
However, other analysts said the four-day meeting, attended by about 370 of the most senior central and provincial officials, would mainly be about economic development over the next five years.
Tom Orlik, a China analyst with Stones & McCarthy Associates, said the meeting would test the party's willingness to commit to meaningful reform.