China parliament to approve reshuffle, streamlining

By Benjamin Kang Lim

BEIJING (Reuters) - China's new parliament is expected to promote younger leaders and possibly a non-Communist and will endorse plans to create powerful "super-ministries" in moves that will further consolidate President Hu Jintao's authority.

On the cusp of a second five years as president and premier, Hu and Wen Jiabao are determined to strengthen the central government's hand to ensure their policies of more balanced growth are carried out in the face of opposition from regional and industrial interests.

"It's centralizing power to facilitate control," Jin Zhong, a Hong Kong-based veteran China watcher, said of the changes expected when the parliament holds its annual meetings from Wednesday.

The National People's Congress, or parliament, takes place at the mid-way point of Hu and Wen's tenure, during which they have sought to moderate the pace of growth with a view to curbing widespread environmental degradation and reviving the lagging hinterland.

It will meet for nearly two weeks and rubber-stamp proposals endorsed by the ruling Communist Party.

The session takes place with inflation at 11-year highs and the stock market down 29 percent from October, leaving financial policy in the world's fourth-largest economy under scrutiny.

Beijing is also scrambling to get ready for the August 8 opening of the Summer Olympics, a coming-out party that has raised pressure on China's rulers to reform.

NEW FACES AT THE TOP

The parliament will agree to a series of personnel changes in top government posts following a reshuffle of Party positions last October at a five-yearly meeting that bolstered Hu's grip and saw Vice President Zeng Qinghong retire from his Party job.

Positions to be filled include at least one vice-president, four vice-premiers, the foreign policy state councilor and the defense minister, sources with ties to the leadership said.

Xi Jinping, 54, is widely expected to become vice-president, underscoring his status as heir apparent to Hu. He has already been put in charge of preparations for the Olympics, a target for rights groups at odds with China's policy towards Sudan and Myanmar, amongst others, and treatment of Tibet.

Li Keqiang, 52, a Hu ally, is tipped to be named the No. 1 vice-premier, setting him up to eventually succeed Wen but also handing him the potentially divisive task of overseeing streamlining of the cabinet to boost efficiency.

China is also likely to get a transport ministry and upgrade its environment watchdog to ministry status.

But plans to create a "super-ministry" to steer the energy sector in China's the world's second-biggest oil consumer, could be put on ice after opposition from the country's big oil companies and existing energy agencies, a source and Hong Kong news reports said.

A non-Communist may be named a vice-president, two independent sources with ties to the leadership said. Xu Jialu, an expert on Buddhism and currently a vice-chairman of parliament, is the front-runner.