BEIJING, Nov 7: China on Thursday gave the first signals about its next leadership line-up with the appointment of likely heir apparent Hu Jintao as head organizer of the vital 16th Communist Party Congress.

Hu will be secretary general of the Congress Presidium, a body which chairs the event, beginning on Friday morning, party spokesman Ji Bingxuan said, fuelling expectations that Hu will succeed President Jiang Zemin as party chief.

But significantly, one of Hu’s four deputy secretary-generals will be Zeng Qinghong, known as the closest ally of Jiang. The president is thought to be keen to maintain influence even after his likely retirement.

Ji also announced that the Congress will last for seven days until Nov 14.

The Congress is expected to usher in China’s first wholesale leadership changes in more than a decade, which will most likely be revealed the day after it finishes.

The presidium, which Hu heads for the duration of the Congress, organizes reports and handles electoral procedures before being disbanded when the gathering ends.

Zeng’s appointment as one of four deputy secretary generals was seen by analysts as a sign that President Jiang is winning his political battles.

Jiang, 76, who is tipped to also hand over the state presidency to 59-year-old Hu next spring, is widely rumoured to be trying to pack allies onto key party committees to ensure his influence after he retires.

The naming of Hu, with Zeng closely behind him, was a clear hint of the shape of things to come, experts said.

“This shows Hu’s status as the core of leadership is clear, quite confirmed,” said Kou Chien-wen, assistant research fellow of the Institute of International Relations from the National Chengchi University in Taiwan.

Joseph Cheng, a China-watcher at the City University of Hong Kong, said Zeng’s appointment “is an implication he will have more important positions to come”.

This heightened speculation that Zeng was likely to be elevated to the party’s Politburo Standing Committee, China’s top leadership body, and could even be named Hu’s deputy, Cheng said.

“It may be Zeng Qinghong who runs the party machinery and (if so) he’ll promote a lot of Jiang’s proteges. We’ll have to see what role Hu will play,” he said.

However, none of these wranglings will be publicly discussed at the Congress, which will be used by Beijing as a global showcase for a nation that is rapidly reforming economically, if not in politics.

Among other tasks, the Congress will “seek truth from facts, keep up with the times, make innovations in a pioneering spirit and rally to create a new situation in advancing the cause of socialism with Chinese characteristics,” spokesman Ji said.

A new addition to these “Chinese characteristics” at the Congress is likely to be a landmark amendment to the party constitution, approving Jiang’s radical proposal to allow capitalists into its ranks.—AFP