Xi Jinping of China: Xi Jinping likely to become China’s next president – latimes.com.
Xi Jinping has been appointed as Vice Chairman of the Central Military Commission, which oversees the Peoples Liberation Army.
He’s considered a safe choice to become the president of China within the next few years. The Party Secretary Hu, Jintao is due to retire in 2012. Xi is expected to replace him and then assume the presidency the following year.
Xi is the son of Xi Zhongxun, a reformer who was “purged” from the party in the 1960s by Chairman Mao. Xi, the younger was sent off to to hard labor in a rural commune at the age of 15. He was allowed to study chemical engineering at Qinghua University in Beijing, and later obtained a law degree. His later service to the party earned him a name for being business friendly, and not one to reveal his views on controversial issues.
