Neither The New York Times nor Bloomberg, which have both reported on the hidden fortune of China's top families, have been invited to this morning's media debut for the new Politburo Standing Committee. Bloomberg reported in June that members of Xi Jinping's extended family were in control of assets totaling US$376 million, citing public documents. A New York Times report last month alleged Wen Jiabao's family had amassed at least US$2.7 billion of assets during his premiership, citing regulatory filings and corporate documents. Although both reports said there was no indication of any wrongdoing by Xi or Wen, their websites have all been blocked by censors.
The party's outgoing discipline chief, He Guoqiang, waved an emotional goodbye to delegates from Hunan before the opening of the party congress, Hunan Daily reported. A native of Hunan, He told the delegates he had paid close attention to its development throughout all these years, despite leaving the province 51 years ago for college. "I feel like I'm back home seeing many familiar faces and hearing the Hunan accent ... Although I'm going to retire soon, my love for Hunan will never retire, and I'll continue to make contribution for Hunan's development," He said.