Due to the CPC's position as the ruling party, the succession to the leadership concerns not only the Party's future but also the country's fate, the China Press, a US-based Chinese newspaper, commented.

The CPC has now seen four generations of top Party leaders, from Mao Zedong, Deng Xiaoping and Jiang Zemin to current leader Hu Jintao.

Hu's election as general secretary of the CPCCC in 2002 was seen as the smoothest transition of top political power in the Party's history, providing a solid political foundation for the country's rapid economic growth, observers say.

Yan Jianqi, an expert with the Party Literature Research Center of the CPCCC, argued that this could be attributed to Deng's initiatives in political reform, such as the abolition of lifetime tenures in leading posts.

Singapore-based Lianhe Zaobao said in a commentary that transitions of power in the Party now rely more on systematic procedures, while the authority of any individual has been gradually weakened.

Lai Hongyi, a scholar at Singapore's East Asia Institute, noted that the political succession would involve a transition of power and the cultivation and training of backup leaders.

According to him, China has set up a systematic procedure it follows in terms of power transition, but more efforts need to be made to improve the training of backup leaders.