China's top leaders prepare for annual meeting

China’s 200-member Central Committee is preparing to convene in Beijing this Friday to discuss leadership changes and a new five-year plan, Bloomberg reported. Many analysts expect Vice President Xi Jinping to accept a position within the Chinese Communist Party’s (CCP) military commission, a step on the way to replacing current President Hu Jintao in 2012. The meeting comes after a particularly fitful period in China’s politics: Premier Wen Jiabao has spoken with increasing frequency about the need for liberalizing political reforms in recent weeks, and this week a group of CCP veterans publicly called for lifting all censorship in the country. However, Wen made similar calls for "intra-party democracy" and devolution of power at last year’s Central Committee meeting, and many analysts argue that such rhetoric may simply be political maneuvering.