Vice-President Xi Jinping looks set to be promoted to a military position in the upcoming Communist Party plenum, in a significant step towards finalising the succession process for him to take over the nation's top leadership post.
The fifth plenum of the party's 17th Central Committee, to be held in October, has been scheduled to approve the draft of the nation's 12th Five-Year Programme - the only item on the agenda according to the official announcement. However, the plenum will also confirm the long-anticipated promotion of Xi to become vice-chairman of the party's Central Military Commission, according to officials briefed on the matter. If confirmed, Xi will also automatically assume the same position in the government's CMC in the National People's Congress plenary session in March. Both are organs that oversee the People's Liberation Army.
'The promotion has been decided,' an official briefed on the development said.
The confirmation will pave the way for Xi to succeed President Hu Jintao as chief of the ruling party in autumn 2012 and as president in the spring of 2013.
Holding a military post was not a prerequisite for becoming head of the party and the state, but the promotion would help clarify uncertainty over leadership succession, analysts said.
At the fourth plenum last year, Xi was widely rumoured to be anointed to the military position. However, when the plenum closed with no word of any personnel changes, speculation arose over possible factional infighting. Later on, there were suggestions in some overseas media that it was Xi's decision not to take the promotion then, saying he needed more time to learn.
