China chooses conservative new leaders The Chinese Communist party has chosen a conservative team to lead the country for the next five years, despite calls for political change and fresh economic reforms. A group of seven men in dark suits walked out on stage on Thursday morning at the Great Hall of the People to "meet the press" in the carefully scripted ceremony that Beijing used to introduce its new political leaders to the world. The group was led by Xi Jinping, signalling that he holds the top rank and has succeeded Hu Jintao as general secretary of the party. He will succeed Mr Hu as president next March. Li Keqiang was third in line, an indication that he will replace Wen Jiabao as premier in March, in another expected decision. But the rest of the party's Politburo Standing Committee - the elite group that effectively runs China - represent a more conservative line-up than many had hoped for. The Standing Committee did not include several men who are viewed as advocates of reform, including Li Yuanchao, head of the Organisation Department, which manages personnel issues. Wang Yang, the party secretary of the economic powerhouse of Guangdong province, also did not make the final seven. Instead, the other five committee members are all politicians who have already served at least one term on the 25-member politburo and will have reached retirement age by the end of Mr Xi's first term. Zhang Dejiang, a North Korea-trained economist, ranks second in the new leadership as head of the National People's Congress, China's rubber stamp parliament. Yu Zhengsheng, the former party secretary of Shanghai, was picked to lead the Chinese People's Consultative Conference. Liu Yunshan, who helped tighten controls over China's media and internet as head of the party's Propaganda Department in recent years, is number five. The line-up also includes Zhang Gaoli, who has been running the port city of Tianjin, and Wang Qishan, a veteran economic policy maker. Several of the new leaders are also set to take up government positions, such as the post of president for Mr Xi and that of premier for Mr Li. But they will only follow the current leaders in those government posts after formal confirmation by the National People's Congress, China's rubber stamp parliament, next March. Later on Thursday, China will announce the full Politburo, the 25-member elite body from which the Standing Committee is chosen. It will also unveil the Central Military Commission (CMC), the 12-member organ that controls the armed forces. Mr Hu's predecessor Jiang Zemin stayed on as CMC chairman after leaving the post of president in 2002. Whether Mr Hu follows suit or opts to step down will be regarded as a key sign of how much real power Mr Xi will have. The new leadership takes office at a time of great challenges. The party has been shaken by internal power struggles, rising middle class discontent and pressures on the economy. The party has spent much of this year grappling with the case of Bo Xilai, the former high-flying Chongqing party boss, whose wife was convicted of murdering a British businessman.