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Vice president Xi Jinping (习近平), the man widely tipped to take over leadership reins from president Hu Jintao very soon, is due for a visit to Iowa. The state's governor Terry Branstad has rolled out the red carpet even before Xi's arrival, describing his trip as the biggest thing that's happened to Iowa since Pope John Paul II visited in 1979: more ›

Vice President Joe Biden has been appointed by the White House to orchestrate the China policy in the upcoming years, a change considered quite practical since Biden's Chinese counterpart, Vice Premier Xi Jinping, is most likely to ascend as China's new president next year. more ›

US Vice President Joe Biden arrived in Beijing and met with his counterpart (and probable future Chinese head honcho) Vice President Xi Jinping this morning in the Great Hall of the People at Tiananmen Square, to begin a four-day tour that includes a series of meetings in Beijing and Chengdu. Topics that Biden will discuss during the trip will reportedly include the current global economy, currency concerns and trade. more ›

From Xinkuaibao via China Sports Review: Xi Jinping (习近平) who is likely to take over Hu Jintao as the next president of the People's Republic, has expressed his three wishes for Chinese football, after a meeting with Sohn Hak-kyu, South Korea’s main opposition Democratic Party leader. They are namely, "China’s World Cup qualification, hosting of the World Cup and winning the World Cup." Fortunately for him, he did not say he would achieve all three goals by the end of his term. more ›

In order to commemorate the ten-day anniversary of Gloriously Benevolent Patriarch Kim Jong Il's departure from China (newly proclaimed happiest country in the world), we'd like to bring you some must-see CCTV News footage that details the Dear Leader's trip in full. more ›

Time magazine just released this year's list of the 100 most influential people in the world. Interested to see which Chinese movers and shakers made this list? more ›

Recently, it's all been about the Wikileaks hullabaloo and cable gate keeps on getting bigger and bigger, what with.. more ›

Last week, Xi Jinping was promoted to vice chairman of the Central Military Commission, a top position seen as the penultimate step to the presidential post. Although frequently called a "princeling" (his father was previously Vice-Premier), Xi keeps a relatively low-profile, possibly due to the fact that he endured much hardship when his father lost out in a power battle and his family was sent to labor in the countryside for 7 years. Observers say Xi is "...unlikely to be a bold or commanding leader in the mold of Mao, Deng or even the gregarious Jiang Zemin..." but will probably rule moderately like the current leader, Hu Jintao. Xi graduated with a degree in organic chemistry from Tsinghua University, has shown staunch support for free market reforms, making a name for himself administering Fujian and Zhejiang and subsequently in his fight against corruption in Shanghai. more ›

It took a little longer than what some people originally predicted, but Vice-President Xi Jinping has finally been annointed vice-chairman of the Central Military Commission. The promotion puts him one step closer to presidency when Hu Jintao steps down in 2012. What can we expect? His wife, popular folk singer Peng Liyuan, who appeared during the 60th Anniversary celebrations, says he's "frugal, hard-working and down-to-earth." more ›

"We must strike hard at all the separatist and destructive activities brought on by the three forces of terrorism, separatism and religious extremism." more ›

• We'll take a moment in this Around Shanghai to highlight this incredibly interesting article about Shanghai's role in the Communist Party. Sure, ex-Prez Jiang Zemin was from here - but it seems like this city's influence stretches deeper than that, and is in fact part of "an on-going factional struggle that has been silently raging at the top levels" of the CCP. [The Hindu]
• Wine critic Jancis Robinson is here in Shanghai, and she's got a lot to say on the subject of Chinese wine faux pas. Um... does buying a 35 kuai bottle at Marks & Spencers count as a faux pas? [CNNGo]
• When an expat mother and her ayi split ways, her children freak out, which makes her worry about where their emotional attachments lie. Hey, expat lady, here's some advice from an expat kid who was basically raised by a string of different ayis: Stop worrying. By the time they're 15, they'll learn not to be attached to anyone. [Cityweekend]

• Cracks in China's Great Politburo Wall [Asia Sentinel] "Vice-President Xi Jinping drops strong hint at big rift with President Hu Jintao Now we know what Vice-President Xi Jinping must have felt when he failed to make it to the Chinese Communist Party's Central Military Commission at a plenary session of the Central Committee last month. The supposed front-runner to succeed Party Chief and President Hu Jintao apparently blamed the supremo for not inducting him into the policy-setting military commission, which has been headed by Hu since 2004. "
• Tourists killed in hot-air balloon accident in China [Times Online] "A hot-air balloon has exploded and crashed in one of the most popular tourist spots in China, killing four Dutch tourists and injuring three people. The group of five Dutch tourists and two balloon pilots had taken earlier today to float for about an hour over the dramatic karst hills that rise up like verdant steep-sided sugar-loaf mountains around the town of Yangshuo. A local tourist official told The Times that the balloon ran out of control and exploded, but gave no more details of what caused the crash."
• China Consolidates Its Lead in Global Trade [NY Times] "China’s exports this year have already vaulted it past Germany to become the world’s biggest exporter. Now, those market share gains are threatening to increase trade frictions with the United States and Europe. The European Commission proposed on Tuesday to extend antidumping duties on Chinese, as well as Vietnamese, shoe imports. China is winning a larger piece of a shrinking pie. Although world trade declined this year because of the recession, consumers are demanding lower-priced goods and Beijing, determined to keep its export machine humming, is finding a way to deliver."

Yao Ming, already do-gooder around town and anti-sharks fin activist, is now tackling another problem: smoking. The basketball superstar will now be acting as spokesperson for a new nationwide anti-smoking drive. He'll be delivering public service announcements to discourage people from lighting up and he'll be preaching the no smoke gospel with folk music singer Peng Liyuan, wife of China vice-president Xi Jinping and recent star of the 60th Anniversary gala. more ›

• China party scholar hints at Xi Jinping promotion [Washington Post] "A Chinese Communist official on Tuesday held out the possibility that Vice President Xi Jinping could still be promoted to a military position, in a step toward ultimately taking over the nation's top leadership post. Some media had speculated that Xi, who is expected to succeed President Hu Jintao in 2013, would be anointed vice chairman of the Central Military Commission at a party plenum last week, reinforcing his succession claim. However, the plenum closed last Friday with no word of any personnel changes."
• China opens media center for coverage of 60th National Day celebrations [Xinhua] "A media center was opened Tuesday for journalists covering celebrations commemorating the 60th anniversary of the founding of the People's Republic of China on Oct. 1. The center, in the Media Center Hotel, will operate until Oct. 2 and will be responsible for providing reception and services for media personnel, such as issuing press passes and organizing interviews. Zhu Shouchen, deputy director of the center, said they had so far received applications from more than 4,500 journalists in and outside the Chinese mainland."
• What China's Hu Would Really Like to Tell Obama [Time] "Summit meetings, in particular those with 20 heads of state in attendance, are usually scripted, staid affairs. That's especially true when these get-togethers involve Chinese President Hu Jintao, whose private persona varies little from his public style. As befits someone who is running the world's most populous country, he is intensely disciplined and extremely cautious. On Tuesday, he will meet one on one with U.S. President Barack Obama on the sidelines of the U.N. General Assembly in New York City before heading off to Pittsburgh, Pa., for the G-20 summit on Sept. 24-25. This is what a more relaxed Hu might say to Obama, whose first major decision on trade was to slap a 35% tariff on tires produced in China — an action that generated a flurry of stories in the media about the possibility of a U.S.-China trade war..."

PLUS LEE KUAN YEW AND HIS ROLE IN SINO-SINGAPORE RELATIONS The last week has seen top leaders zipping between China and Singapore to cement ties and sign new deals. Let's take you through the high-profile visits one by one before diving deeper into more detail (Warning: Long article!): Goh Chok Tong visits new Shanghai party chief and the Singapore-Suzhou Industrial Park Last week, Singapore's Senior Minister Goh Chok Tong swung by Shanghai to visit her... more ›

It was too much to watch something like this, kept me vomiting for a long time more ›

Israeli Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni is bringing a clear message to China: Israel will not allow Iran to get the atom bomb. Israel is concerned that China and Russia, which are permanent members of the U.N. Security Council, have opposed calls by the United States for tougher sanctions on Iran. more ›

... and the rumor-mill is running in overdrive. Recent reports suggest that Shanghai Party Chief Xi Jinping's (习近平) recent entry into the race - apparently at senior leader Zeng Qinghong's (曾庆红) insistence - has shaken things up; forcing Hu Jintao to make some last-minute maneuvering. more ›

Shanghai is back in Beijing's good books. Or so an article published by the People's Daily two weeks ago indicates, claims the Associated Press. The article, titled "Glad to hear the new good tidings from Shanghai", lavished praise on Shanghai for it's recent successes. "A golden breeze refreshes Shanghai; one important, auspicious event after another" gushed the lead article. It is a sign, claims AP, that the fallout from last year's pension scandal has started to settle. As AP points out:

...such propaganda is a cue that top communist leaders have come to a consensus that the scandal was confined to a few "bad elements" and that China's biggest and richest city has Beijing's support.

Photo by Slow Boat to China taken from the Shanghaiist Contribute page.
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The suspense is finally over. Shanghai woke up to a new leader today. On Saturday, Beijing appointed Comrade Xi Jinping as the city’s new General Secretary of the Chinese Communist Party, replacing Mayor Han Zheng, who temporarily held that post when former Secretary Chen Liangyu was investigated last fall for misappropriating public funds. City residents cheered the decision: more ›