Tracking China's Leadership Transition

November 8th, 2012

Chinese Vice President Xi Jinping walks past Chinese President Hu Jintao (front left), former Chinese President Jiang Zemin (front right) and Chinese Prime Minister Wen Jiabao (front right) during the opening session of the 18th Communist Party Congress held at the Great Hall of the People on November 8, 2012 in Beijing, China. (Photo by Feng Li/Getty Images)

As China begins its once-a-decade handover of power at the upper reaches of the Communist Party, Asia Society offers a range of perspectives on the 2012 transition between outgoing President Hu Jintao and President-to-be Xi Jinping. Scroll through the commentary, reportage, and videos below for insights into this opaque political process.

Carl Minzner: Legal Reform in China

Fordham Law's Carl Minzner discusses the past, present, and future of legal reform in the modern developing Communist China.
Photo of the Day: A Procession of Leaders in China

Xi Jinping (foreground), China's new Communist Party General Secretary, waves with other members of the new Politburo Standing Committee in the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, China on November 15, 2012. (Feng Li/Getty Images)
Video: Yale Qing Historian Peter Perdue

Historian Peter Perdue traces the parallels between Qing Dynasty practices and the 2012 18th Party Congress in Beijing.
Video: China's Leadership Must Deal With New Realities

Richard Solomon states that in some ways, China's society and economy have outgrown its political system.
Goldman Sachs Vice Chairman on China

The greatest challenge facing China's new leaders, says J. Michael Evans of Goldman Sachs, is civil unrest spurred by income inequality in a growing economy.
China's Next Leaders: What's at Stake?

Susan Shirk on the "Achilles heel" of one-party rule.
The 'Oxymoron' of China Expertise

An interview with former ambassador Winston Lord.
China's Rising Tide of Protests

Asia Society Senior Advisor Junjie Zhang argues that addressing China's pollution and environmental degradation problems must be at the top of Xi Jinping's agenda.
China's Transition: 5 Changes to Make

As China ushers in a new generation of leaders, Hamid Biglari, Head of Emerging Markets at Citicorp, discusses topics that should be at the top of Xi Jinping's to-do list.
Banned in Beijing

Strange prohibitions before the 18th Party Congress.