The 16th National Congress of the Communist Party of China (CPC) concluded successfully on November 28 with the announcement of the widely anticipated new CPC leadership. Apart from Hu Jintao, who was elected new General Secretary of the Central Committee of the CPC, all six former members of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee stepped down.

The new CPC leaders are younger than their predecessors and are mostly unknown outside of China. What impact will this dramatic change in the CPC's leadership have on China's economic prospects?

Because the 16th National Congress was political, no new economic policies or proposals were on the agenda. The congress's mission was to transfer the CPC's political power smoothly and establish a new leadership. However, past experiences have shown that given China's existing political and economic systems, policy decisions of the core leadership affect the whole country for generations. This is also why the CPC Party congress attracts global attention, more so now that China's economy is gradually integrating with the global economy. Consequently, any uncertainties about China's future economic development would affect the whole world.

The Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee, the new heart of China's political power, now has nine members. Their specific responsibilities will be announced at the National People_s Congress in March next year. However, according to the CPC leadership ranking, it is believed that Wu Bangguo will be Chairman of the NPC Standing Committee, while Wen Jiabao will be Premier of the State Council overseeing the national economy.

Currently Vice Premier of the State Council, Wen Jiabao, has extensive political experience, but it will be his economic expertise that determines the future of China's economy. He is now responsible for agriculture, finance, national disaster prevention and relief work. Since he has no administration experience at the province and municipal level, his governing ability will only be known when he takes up the post of Premier.

Compared with Zhu Rongji, Mr Wen is considered a "mild" leader. He is believed to be very rational and sticks to his principles. Zhu Rongji has praised him repeatedly for his ability to handle across-the-broad and critical issues.

In his current post, Mr Wen often shows enthusiasm for economic reform, which is in line with Zhu Rongji's thinking. Recently, he proposed allowing farmers to decide what to grow. This is a breakthrough in China where quotas dictate what agricultural produce farmers should grow.

Mr Wen demonstrated his abilities when he managed to find a solution to the recent China Telecom pricing issue that was deemed satisfactory by all sides. In his new post, he will have to grapple with a bundle of knotty problems including unemployment, state-owned enterprise reform, banks' bad debts, disparity between the rich and poor, as well as the gap between eastern and western regions of the country.

Among the newly-elected members, Huang Ju was Mayor of Shanghai while Jia Qinglin was Governor of Fujian Province and Mayor of Beijing. Li Changchun served as governor of a number of provinces and just left his post of Secretary of the CPC's Guangdong Provincial Committee. All members have broad, practical experience in economic affairs.

Apart from the transfer of power, what other messages did the CPC deliver via the 16th National Congress?

In his report entitled "Build a well-off society in an all-round way and create a new situation in building socialism with Chinese characteristics," Chinese President Jiang Zemin emphasized that China would quadruple its 2001 GDP figure by 2020. When asked about Mr Jiang's goal, MOFTEC Minister Shi Guangsheng replied that foreign trade was an essential element of the national economy and thus should quadruple as well.

China's foreign trade volume in 2001 reached US$500 billion. Its foreign trade must grow at over 7.2 percent annually if China is to achieve its goal of US$2,000 billion by 2020, which is about the level of the U.S., the world's largest economy.

This is both exciting and questionable. China's GDP and foreign trade have increased four-fold in the last 10 years, but off a low base. Therefore, maintaining such a high growth rate over the next 18 years will be no simple task.

Globalization means that China will also be affected by any global economic slowdown. This reflects China's accelerating economic development, reform and integration with the global economy.

Much attention was also given to the admission of capitalists into the CPC, which is primarily an issue concerning private enterprises' status in China. The congress has laid the foundations for the private sector to get a higher degree of freedom and equal treatment in investment, trade and finance. The election of Zhang Ruimin, CEO of private enterprise Qingdao Haier Group to the CPC Central Committee marks the party's first step in allowing private capitalists to join the national leadership. It also reflects China's steps forward in implementing a market economy.

Protecting the interests of the private sector was also on the congress agenda. In his report, Mr Jiang said the country should protect those who have become rich. His comment is not just aimed at protecting the rich, but has much wider-reaching consequences. As disparity between the rich and poor grows, and the gap between economic development in coastal and inland provinces widens, concerns about social instability will grow. As such, the NPC is speeding up legislation to strengthen protection of privately-owned property.