The upcoming Nineteenth National Congress of the Communist Party of China is a milestone event that begins October 18.

The 18th National Congress of the Communist Party of China will convene on November 8, 2012, at which time seven of the nine Politburo Standing Committee members will retire, a new Central Committee will be elected, and Xi Jinping is expected to assume the presidency after a decade of preparation.

On November 2, the China Program and China Vitae co-sponsored a day-long conference on Chinese leadership, with panels on the tools of leadership analysis, leadership similarities and differences on foreign policy, and leadership unity and conflict on domestic issues. Roderick MacFarquhar of Harvard University gave the keynote address.