China has begun changing its leadership this morning as President Jiang Zemin and almost all the country's other communist bosses began handing over power to a younger generation.
With six of the nation's top seven leaders standing down from their posts in the ruling Communist Party, the stage is now set for vice-president Mr Hu Jintao (59) to take control of the world's most populous nation.
The long-rumoured clear-out at the summit of China's secretive and authoritarian political system also sees Premier Zhu Rongji and party number two Mr Li Peng, both 74, step down from their party posts, the official Xinhua news agency said.
Mr Jiang remains president until next March, when he is widely expected to hand over the post to Mr Hu at a meeting of the country's parliament. The other retiring leaders will shed their state posts at the same time.
Delegates to the Congress hailed the heavily stage-managed reshuffle, the first leadership change since the Communist Party took power in 1949 not to involve a death or an internal party coup.
AFP