Zhao Leji a man whose time has come

Shaanxi party secretary Zhao Leji is a strong candidate to become the Communist Party's personnel chief following the leadership transition at its 18th national congress next month.

If the 55-year-old does succeed Li Yuanchao as head of the party's central organisation department he will also become a member of the party's powerful Politburo. And given his relative youth, that would put him in a prime position for membership of the party's Politburo Standing Committee in five years' time.

Various media and government sources in Xian have linked Zhao to several new positions this year, including central publicity department chief or party secretary of Sichuan, Tianjin, Chongqing or Xinjiang. Central organisation department head is the latest favourite.

Zhao will become a member of the Politburo if he secures any of those posts, except Sichuan party chief.

He was born into an intellectual family in Xining , the capital of northwestern Qinghai province, in 1957, but his ancestral home is Xian, Shaanxi province.

Zhao spent more than three decades ascending the political ladder in Qinghai after graduating from the philosophy department at Peking University in 1980. He was among the first batch of graduates after the Cultural Revolution.