To 'Xi Jinping' from 'Hu Jintao' - Change in Chinese Leadership

The Chinese have an amazing history reaching back thousands of years. The last century has seen the fall of the monarchs, the Last Emperor 'Puyi', and the rise of Communism with 'Chairman Mao' and the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). And between now and Spring of 2013, we will see a leadership change in the Government of what is to be the most influential country in the world for the coming century.

The direction of China, a country with a population of over a billion people (1,000,000,000) will be lead by this relatively young man, Xi Jinping, in his late fifties from Weinen near Xi'an (the old capital of China) in the provence of Shaanxi. Reading the history of this man, he is committed to his country since his father was imprisoned during the 'Cultural Revolution'. His father was purged and sent to work in a factory in 1963 for his Communist activities and then 5 years later, in 1968, his father was sent to prison when Xi was only 15 years of age. He joined Mao's Countryside revolution with ideals.

Using the GDP from Trading Economics (or visually from The Richest.Org or Washington Post) and we all know on the news that China is on the way if not already the largest GDP country in the world. It is one of the biggest creditors to the United States and it influence on the Globe is just beginning.

Having been brought up in Ireland a western country, firstly as a second world country and then as a first world country under the governance (via the EU) of democracy (ancient Athenians to Thomas Jefferson) and capitalism (Adam Smith), my understandings of communism were skewed. The different versions of capitalism from the Bolsheviks of Russia, to the Italians and the Chinese (centered on the works of Karl Marx). When I look at the modern Ireland it gives me doubt as to which governance if any can really work for the Citizen.

Since China will become the guiding light for the economy, it will automatically inherit the leadership role for the planet and the balance of resources on the planet. I wish the Chinese and us as much luck as we can muster to find a way.