China's Communist Party Holds Annual Conference

Nearly 200 delegates from across China gathered with President Hu Jintao, who is presiding over the important meeting for the first time since he took office in March. The first session of the four-day meeting is being held behind closed doors. Analysts expect no major policy shifts to come from this plenum. Instead, they foresee small changes, mainly regarding social issues. President Hu's stated priority is to alleviate the growing gap between China's emerging wealthy class and the vast majority who live in abject poverty. Beyond this, the government is saying it wants to improve transparency within the Communist Party, and President Hu has said he wants economic and electoral reforms. It is widely expected that the party will seek to boost its image by launching China's first manned space mission sometime after the plenum concludes on Tuesday. Although no dramatic policy changes are expected, analysts say the Communist leaders' main goal is to move China's economy further away from the traditional socialist model. Leaders are expected to endorse former President Jiang Zemin's so-called Three Represents theory, in which the status of business people would be legitimized as a productive force on par with workers and farmers. Political Science Professor Joseph Cheng of the City University of Hong Kong said the endorsement would formalize the government's recognition of business people as a force behind modernization.