Why is hu jintao stepping down

China's newly-retired president, Hu Jintao, will probably never write a gossipy bestseller chronicling his time in Beijing. And the country's outgoing premier, Wen Jiabao, isn't expected to embark on a lucrative speaking tour once he leaves office. Top politicians from other countries often engage in charitable or diplomatic work when they retire.

But in China, there's an unspoken rule that Chinese leaders should step out of the public spotlight when they step down from office. The very concept of retirement is relatively new in the world of Communist politics. For decades, cadres were expected to follow an old party slogan by "working for the revolution with their last breath and last drop of blood". In , then-President Jiang Zemin tried to clear the ranks at the top of the party by instituting retirement age limits: 68 for top leaders and 65 for senior level officials.

That rule has been followed with varying degrees of success. Mr Jiang himself delayed his own retirement. He stayed on as the chairman of China's military for two years until after relinquishing his other positions to his successor, Hu Jintao.

Just this week, the governor of China's Central Bank, Zhou Xiaochuan was allowed to remain in his role past the age of It's thought that Chinese leaders wanted Mr Zhou to continue his successful economic reforms, so they bent the rules to allow him to stay. Trending 1. A Blueprint for Peace in Ethiopia. Blame Brussels. Latest Analysis. Or are they? The Month in World Photos. Argument Adem K. Argument Andrew Connelly. Analysis Jeffrey Wilson. You can support Foreign Policy by becoming a subscriber.

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