Ending the Five-yearly Communist Party congress, the new Central Committee was approved on Sunday, including the new generation of officials that is expected to lead the country from 2012.

72-year-old Luo Gan, and 68-year-old Vice President Zeng Qinghong, an ally of former party leader Jiang Zemin, Defence Minister Cao Gangchuan, 71, and Vice Premier Wu Yi, 68, are some of the old wave of leaders that are making way for the new guard.

Around 2.200 top provincial and military delegates voted for the new Central Committee and also amended the party constitution to incorporate state and party leader Hu Jintao's trademark platform.

"The Scientific Outlook on Development takes development as its essence, putting people first as its core, and comprehensive, balanced and sustainable development as its basic requirement," said Hu in the speech that opened the congress last week.

This will require the reduction of the economical inequalities brought by the 25 years of “development first” strategy, making China a “harmonious society”. "A relatively comfortable standard of living has been achieved for the people as a whole but the trend of a growing gap in income distribution has not been thoroughly reversed," Hu added.

The party said that the new constitution mentions religion for the first time, yet the wording was not immediately released. The media reported that the party inserted "guiding principles and policies in religious work" in order to meet "demands posed by the new situation and new tasks."

The party’s leader, Hu Jintao, 64, will be obliged to retire at the next congress in 2012 for reasons of age and tenure.

Favorites for replacing his place in the party are Xi Jinping, 54, who recently became the party leader of Shanghai, and Liaoning provincial party chief Li Keqiang, 52, one of Hu’s protégé’s.