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The Transfer of Power Begins

On November 8, 2012, the Chinese Communist Party's 18th Congress convened in Beijing, beginning its leadership transition. Having ruled China since 1949, the party faced its biggest transfer of power in years. It was only the second time the party prepared to transfer power from one leader to another without violence or protest. The only previous time was when current President Hu Jintao took over for Jiang Zemin in 2002.

The 18th Congress began with the expectation that changes were coming in every area of the Chinese Communist Party. For example, seven out of nine members of the party's elite Standing Committee were scheduled to retire. The biggest change would obviously be Vice President Xi Jinping taking over as president. When he takes over as president in March 2013, Xi, the son of a revolutionary leader, will face the daunting task of maintaining economic growth and increasing China's role as a global power.

On November 9, 2012, Google confirmed that all of its services including Gmail, maps, and its search engine were not accessible in China. The service interruption came just as the 18th Congress convened. Chinese cyber-police also took further steps to control information ahead of the leadership transition in the Communist Party. Companies in and around Beijing were ordered to use computer hardware to log online traffic and block certain Web sites.