The Red Capitalists

This week much of the world will focus upon the election in America but not to be overlooked is that 2,300 delegates from municipalities, autonomous regions and provinces all over China meet in Beijing for the beginning of the once-in-a-decade leadership transition at the Communist Party's 18th National Congress. Xi Jinping is due to replace Hu Jintao as General Secretary of the party. Li Keqiang is set to succeed Wen Jiabao as Premier. This year's congress will see three quarters of the leadership step down. Fourteen of the 25 Politburo members are expected to retire, while seven of the nine on the Standing Committee are due to retire. The Congress will see  a new fifth generation of leaders - "Red Princelings". Xi Jinping's father Xi Zhongxun was a former vice premier.

China is a one-party state in which the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) monopolises power. The party leadership, however, is not a monolithic group. Its members do not all share the same ideology, political association, socio-economic background, or policy preferences. China's political elite is dominated by two factions currently competing for power, influence and control over policy.

References to "Mao Zedong Thought" have been devoid of meaning for years but there has been noticable omissions of the term from many policy statements. "Mao Thought" long ago was expanded to encompass much more than just Mao's individual cogitations. The Thoughts of Chairman Mao has been bent and re-shaped time and again over the decades to serve the politics of the day.Instead the concept of "Socialism With Chinese Characteristics" was added to the party constitution in 1992 and "Deng Xiaoping Theory" made its way in five years later

Ordinary Chinese would like their leaders to know what they think and what problems they’re facing. Like 19th-century Russian peasants, they cling to the hope that “if only the czar knew,” the wrongs would be righted. A recent poll of Chinese people conducted by the Pew Research Center’s Global Attitudes Project reveals some of what ordinary Chinese citizens would tell their leaders if they had the chance. 80 percent agreeing that the “rich just get richer while the poor get poorer.”

This year 34 private capitalists have been chosen as delegates to the Congress, up from just 17 at the 17th Party Congress in 2007, according to statistics released by state-run China Economic Weekly. They include Sany Group Chairman Liang Wengen, who ranked No. 6 on the Forbes China Rich List with a $5.9 billion net worth, Wei Jianjun, who chairs Great Wall Motor with a net worth of $2.9 billion; Feng Yali, CEO of Hailiang Group, whose family is worth an estimated $855 million; Zhang Yubai, Chairman of Jiangsu Yanghe Brewery Joint-Stock, who has a $860 million net worth; Chen Xueli, Chairman of Shandong Weigao Group, worth an estimated $840 million; and Li Denghai, Chairman of Shandong Denghai Seeds, with a net worth estimate at $550 million.