中共高层为补充新鲜血液铺平道路

China's Senior Leaders Make Way For New Blood

China's Communist Party yesterday announced the retirement of a handful of its more elderly leaders, underscoring the leadership's commitment to orderly transfers of power and to preparing the way for younger people to take their place.

中共十七次全国代表大会周日宣布了新一届中央委员会成员名单，好几位年事较高的现任领导人不在名单之内。他们的退出显示，中共正在为实现党内权力有序交接、让年轻一代接替高层领导职位做好准备。

The most senior official stepping down is Zeng Qinghong, 68 years old, a member of the powerful Politburo Standing Committee who also is vice president. Mr. Zeng has a reputation as a canny political operator, and his willingness to observe an informal retirement age may help strengthen the precedent for other leaders.

这次退下领导岗位的官员中，级别最高的是68岁的中共中央政治局常委、国家副主席曾庆红。曾一向被视为精明政治家，此番他自愿遵守党内在非正式退休年龄上的潜规则或许有助于为其他领导人树立一个良好的先例。

Two other Politburo Standing Committee members also are retiring: Wu Guanzheng, 69, head of the party's anticorruption apparatus; and Luo Gan, 72, in charge of the police and court system.

另外两位政治局常委也退出了中央委员会，他们分别是69岁的中纪委书记吴官正和72岁的中央政法委书记罗干。

Though there is no formal retirement age for officials of their rank, analysts say the party increasingly observes an informal rule that leaders shouldn't start a new term in office after reaching the age of 68.

中共党内对政治局常委一级的官员并未设定正式的退休年龄，不过，有分析师称，年龄达到68岁不再开始新一届任期已日益成为党内一条约定俗成的潜规则。

The retirements were indicated by the fact that none of the officials was on the new Central Committee, a broad party leadership body, which was announced at yesterday's close of the party's 17th National Congress. That makes them ineligible for membership in the Politburo or its elite standing committee, the bodies that effectively rule China.

在周日的十七大闭幕会议上，上述三位官员都不在新的中央委员会委员名单上。这意味着他们将不会进入政治局和作为中共最高决策核心的政治局常务委员会。

Two key economic policy makers in the Politburo also are retiring: Wu Yi, a vice premier widely respected for her work as a trade negotiator, and Zeng Peiyan, another vice premier, who had handled infrastructure development and planning. The departure of those officials had been widely expected, since they both turn 69 this year.

原政治局委员中主管经济的两位副总理此次也将退出。一位是因在对外贸易谈判中成绩卓著而广受尊敬的吴仪，另一位是分管基本建设和规划的曾培炎。他们的退出早在人们预料之中，因为二人今年均已69岁。

The new 204-person Central Committee is expected to hold its first meeting today and then announce a new lineup for the Politburo and its standing committee. The party's top-three officials -- President Hu Jintao, legislative chief Wu Bangguo and Premier Wen Jiabao -- are all but certain to retain their posts. Several officials now in their 50s and early 60s will join those ruling bodies.

由204 人组成的新一届中共中央委员会将于今天召开第一次全体会议，会上将宣布新的政治局及常委名单。舆论普遍认为，中共当前三位最高领导人──国家主席胡锦涛、人大委员长吴邦国及国务院总理温家宝继续留任应无悬念。一些当前五十多岁或六十岁出头的官员将进入政治局乃至常委会。

And among them are likely those who will take over the top jobs at the next party congress in 2012, when all three current leaders will have served two terms and reached the informal retirement age. Much attention has recently focused on two such possible candidates: Xi Jinping, party chief of Shanghai, and Li Keqiang, the top official in the northeastern province of Liaoning.

这些新入选的人员中可能就有将于2012年下一次全国代表大会上成为新一届中国领导人的人选。届时，上述三位现任最高领导人都将任满两届，且达到党内约定俗成的退休年龄。在未来接班人人选问题上，人们近来的关注焦点日益集中到两位可能性最大的候选人身上：一位是现任上海市委书记习近平，另一位则是辽宁省委书记李克强。

Although the retiring officials have been removed from the party's power structure, they are likely for several more months to keep their jobs in the parallel government system as succession arrangements are worked out. Ms. Wu, for instance, is scheduled to meet with U.S. Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson in December for another round of talks on the two nations' economic and trade policies.

上面提到的此次退出中央委员会的官员虽已脱离党的权力结构，但在接下来的几个月时间里，他们可能还会在相应的职位上继续工作一段时间以等待继任者到位，比如吴仪，她就将在12月与美国财政部长鲍尔森(Henry Paulson)会面，就中美经贸关系问题展开新一轮会谈。