STATE Security Minister Jia Chunwang is favoured to succeed Wei Jianxing as party secretary of Beijing, according to Chinese sources in the capital.
Mr Wei took over from disgraced former Beijing party boss Chen Xitong last April, but it is understood that his appointment is temporary as he has hung on to his positions as head of the party's disciplinary organ and the official trade union.
Mr Jia was a vice-secretary of Beijing from 1984 to 1985 before he was appointed Minister of State Security in 1985.
The sources said that Mr Jia stood out from other candidates because of his background as a senior Beijing cadre.
If appointed Beijing party boss, Mr Jia would also be a candidate for membership in the ruling Politburo.
A source said that President Jiang Zemin hoped Mr Jia's appointment would blunt the criticism that the anti-graft campaign in Beijing was in effect his personal vendetta against the so-called Beijing Faction in Chinese politics.
