Audience of more than 70,000 fills Tiananmen Square for carefully choreographed celebration and while Xi Jinping gets much of the attention, younger faces also take centre stage.
It was a celebration on a grand scale as the Security was tight as an audience of more than 70,000 filled Tiananmen Square – chosen from party organs, government bodies and research and scientific institutes, as well as dozens of people representing ethnic minorities who were flown in from across the country. Carefully choreographed and of a similar scale to past National Day celebrations in the capital, the two-hour event started with a flyover of Much attention was focused on party secretary general 04:14 Xi Jinping leads celebrations marking centenary of China’s ruling Communist Party For China watchers it was a rare opportunity for clues about the leadership and party elders – Xi’s predecessor Hu Jintao, now white-haired, was there on the rostrum, as was former Politburo Standing Committee member Song Ping, who at 104 is older than the party itself. But former leader Jiang Zemin,94, and past premier Zhu Rongji,92, were absent, prompting speculation about their health.
