China leaders confirmed in office

Xi Jinping (R) is widely expected to succeed Hu Jintao (L) China's leader Hu Jintao has been elected for another five-year term as president, after a near-unanimous vote in the National People's Congress. The Congress also voted to re-elect Mr Hu as chairman of China's powerful Central Military Commission. China's prime minister, Wen Jiabao, is expected to be confirmed in his post for another five years on Monday. Xi Jinping, the man widely considered to be Mr Hu's likely successor in 2013, won election as vice-president. Mr Xi has risen rapidly through the ranks of the Chinese Communist Party, becoming a member of the party's nine-member Politburo Standing Committee only in October 2007. He has been given the high-profile job of masterminding China's preparations for the Olympics, which are being held in Beijing this summer. http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/7297988.stm