China leadership transition formally edges forward

BEIJING (AP) - China's leadership transition has formally edged ahead, with the executive body of the Communist Party Congress forwarding a list of names to congress delegates for review.

State media reported that the congress presidium, 41 current and former members of the leadership approved the candidate list for the Central Committee and sent it to the delegates on Saturday.

The delegates will cast votes before the congress closes on Wednesday to choose the Central Committee, a roughly 350-member body.

The Central Committee, in turn, will select the top leadership.

The move is largely a formality, as is the congress itself. Deciding the line-up of leading bodies falls to a small group of power brokers.

Vice-President Xi Jinping has been all but formally announced to replace President Hu Jintao as party chief and president.

China Central Television showed Mr Hu addressing the meeting of the presidium, which was presided over by Mr Xi.

Candidates for the Central Committee outnumber seats by only a small portion, giving the 2,268 congress delegates little choice except on the margins.

In addition to the name list for Central Committee members, the meeting also forwarded candidate lists for the party's internal watchdog agency, state media reported.