Xi Jinping was elected general secretary of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee at the first plenary session of the 18th CPC Central Committee, realizing a peaceful, orderly and institutionalized transition of power.
It marks an achievement in the political reform that began with China's reform and opening-up. Members of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the 18th CPC Central Committee, who were elected at the first plenary session of the 18th CPC Central Committee, met both Chinese and foreign journalists in the Great Hall of the People Thursday.
In the first three decades since the founding of the PRC, the CPC witnessed several significant political struggles within the top leadership, especially during the Cultural Revolution (1966-76), which led to social turbulence.
The reasons were complicated, but the fundamental one was the existence of lifelong tenure, which was closely entangled with intra-Party unification, basic political order and the authority of CPC's top leadership.
It was in 1980 that then Chinese leader Deng Xiaoping raised discussions about the reform of the CPC leadership succession system, proposing that no leader should hold lifelong tenure.
In 1989, Deng resigned as chairman of the Central Military Commission, ending the lifelong tenure system of China's top leadership that had lasted for 40 years.
Deng could be compared to George Washington, one of the founding fathers of the US, who refused to run for a third term, establishing the customary policy of a maximum of two terms for a US president.
Deng's move provided possibility for establishing a system with fixed terms of office and a smooth transition of top leadership within the framework of democracy and rule of law.
The third generation of Chinese leadership, led by Jiang Zemin, further carried out Deng's path, and systemized and standardized the tenure of China's top leadership.
As intra-Party democracy proceeded, the third generation of leadership passed on power to the fourth generation led by Hu Jintao, including the highest positions in the Party, government and military, namely general secretary of the CPC Central Committee, China's president and chairman of the Central Military Commission, in three consecutive years of 2002, 2003 and 2004.
This is the first peaceful and institutionalized political succession since the history of the CPC and the foundation of the PRC.
In 2008, Xi Jinping was elected vice president of China by the National People's Congress.
In the fifth plenary session of the 17th CPC Central Committee in 2010, Xi was appointed vice chairman of the Central Military Commission.
During the first plenary session of the 18th CPC Central Committee Thursday, he was just elected as general secretary of the CPC Central Committee.
This marks a systemized political succession from Hu's fourth generation of leadership to Xi's fifth generation.
Such systemization, together with the promotion of intra-Party democracy and reform of officials' selection system, paves the way for the stability and development of China's political system. The factions that used to emerge in the Party and political infighting are rarely seen.
The systemization has a number of significant points. The authority of an individual leader does not play a dominant role in the interests of the Party and the country. He has no necessity to take extreme measures to maintain his absolute power.
This will make other top leaders hold a tolerant view toward differing opinions, thus eventually realizing democracy.
Moreover, the power transitions within the Party, government and military within the next few years will constrain and supervise the supreme power to some extent, and avoid interest entanglement and low efficiency.
A systemized leadership transition can help the Party to adjust public policies. It creates possibilities that multiple parties can take turns to carry out public policies to meet public demands.
Meanwhile, it avoids potential social disturbances caused by party elections and the rotation of ruling parties in developing countries which lack a democratic tradition.
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