Party veterans' offspring make up 1pc of CPPCC

The children of prominent Communist Party veterans will comprise more than 1 per cent of the membership of the country's top political advisory body for the next five years.

The 2,237 members of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference include 24 "princelings" - descendants of revolutionaries. Among them are Mao Xinyu, grandson of Mao Zedong, Zhou Bingjian, niece of late premier Zhou Enlai, Major General Zhu Heping, grandson of the Red Army founder Zhu De, and Deng Nan, daughter of Deng Xiaoping.

Although viewed as belonging to the same political faction, their political stances and personal characters vary enormously. For instance, mainland media have reported that Deng Nan has maintained an extremely low profile, avoiding interviews.

When the annual session of the CPPCC opened in Beijing, Deng appeared bored and played with her spectacles case.

When Zhu was asked to comment on disgraced former Chongqing party chief Bo Xilai , another princeling, on Sunday, he distanced himself and other revolutionary offspring from Bo, saying: "What has happened to Bo is something of his very own. It's inappropriate to say that it is related to somebody else, particularly those who are the offspring of cadres." Zhu added: "People from whatever family background may get into such problems if there is no thought re-education."

CPPCC delegates who are the children of former liberal state leaders include Lieutenant General Xu Xiaoyan, the son of Marshal Xu Xiangqian, Wan Jifei, the son of former top legislator Wan Li, Zhu Yanlai, the daughter of former premier Zhu Rongji, Jiang Xiaoming, the son of another former top legislator, Qiao Shi, whose original family name was Jiang, and Ren Kelei , the son of former Guangdong party secretary Ren Zhongyi.

Families from the conservative political camp are represented by Chen Yuan , the son of hardline party veteran Chen Yun, Li Xiaolin, the daughter of former president Li Xiannian, and Li Xiaolin, the daughter of former premier Li Peng .

Li Xiannian played a key role in toppling liberal-minded party chief Hu Yaobang in 1987, while Li Peng was a hardline supporter of the bloody crackdown on the student-led pro-democratic movement in 1989.

Other top political advisers with princeling backgrounds include Chen Zhisu , the son of general Chen Geng , and General Peng Xiaofeng , the son of general Peng Xuefeng .

Additional reporting by Keith Zhai