China's New Guard Susan Lawrence in her article The New Guard: Five Younger Officials Make their way to the Top profiles five leaders on the twenty-two man Chinese Politburo and examines their potential leadership capacity in the years to come. These five men, Hu Jintao, Li Changchun, Wen Jiabao, Wu Bengguo and Jia Qinglin are all in their fifties and experienced Communist party bureaucrats. As the current members of the politburo grow older these five seemed well positioned to become the next generation of Chinese leaders.

Hu Jintao

Hu joined the seven man politburo's most senior body, Standing Committee at the age of 49 where his brief is party affairs. He also serves as vice president of the People's Republic of China. There is speculation that he may...

Hu ascended via the Communist Youth League, first in the province of Gansu, then Beijing. Critics point out he hasn't handled economic portfolios and has no strong power base. Mild mannered, Hu may not possess the political savvy to rise above his current position.
Li Changchun

Li has spent most of his life in the province of Liaoning, a center of heavy industry. He has served as Mayor of the province's capitol city Shenyang, then governor and deputy party chief. Under his leadership Li oversaw a number of projects enhancing the infrastructure and boosting the economy of not only Liaoning, but neighboring provinces as well. His successes earned him the task of bringing the province of Guangdong back under…