HALF of the ministerial-level posts and one-third of provincial leaderships in China will undergo rejuvenation in the coming three years.
And the Communist Party Politburo will expend more effort in consolidating the 'leadership collective' in the run-up to the post-Deng Xiaoping era.
According to the latest issue of the Chinese-run Hong Kong journal Bauhinia, the party leadership has decided to speed up the process of grooming so-called 'cross-century' cadres.
Bauhinia reported that by the time the party held its 15th Congress in 1997, about half of the cadres occupying positions of ministers or their equivalent in the party Central Committee and the central Government would have retired in favour of younger talent.
One-third of the directors of departments and bureaus in the Government, as well as the heads of provinces, autonomous regions and major cities would do the same.
The journal revealed that up to the end of last year, 360,000 'young cadres', meaning those in their 40s and late 30s, had been promoted to positions of county chief or above.
After the recent reshuffle of the party and government leadership of the Beijing municipality, the youngest vice-mayor is only 36 and the youngest member of the party committee 39.
