Xi Jinping has been confirmed as the man chosen to lead China for the next decade.
Mr Xi led the new Politburo Standing Committee out onto the stage at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, signalling his elevation to the top of China's ruling Communist Party.
He replaces Hu Jintao, under whose administration China has seen a decade of extraordinary growth.
The move marks the official passing of power from one generation to the next.
Mr Xi was followed by Li Keqiang, the man set to succeed Premier Wen Jiabao, and five other men - meaning that the size of the Standing Committee had been reduced from nine to seven.
Those five, in order of seniority, were Vice-Premier Zhang Dejiang, Shanghai party boss Yu Zhengsheng, propaganda chief Liu Yunshan, Vice-Premier Wang Qishan and Tianjin party boss Zhang Gaoli.
Li Keqiang
Li Keqiang's career has seen him rise from manual labourer on a rural commune to provincial party chief and now China's premier.
He has a reputation for caring about China's less well-off, perhaps the result of a modest upbringing.
He is close to President Hu Jintao, who he worked with in the party's youth league, and he takes over the premiership from Wen Jiabao. But his easy-going manner and consensual style has prompted some to question whether he is dogged enough to tackle the strong vested interests which dominate much of China's economy.
Born in 1955 in Anhui Province, Mr Li reportedly rejected his father's offer of a local party career, enrolling instead at Beijing's prestigious Peking University to study law. Mr Li was chosen as deputy party secretary for Henan province in 1998, and became China's youngest provincial governor a year later.
But his tenure in the rural and heavily-populated province was marked by a series of setbacks, including fires and the spread of HIV through contaminated blood, which could have ended his ambitions. He did a better job reviving Henan's economy, and then impressed many by his work in Liaoning, an industrial province hit hard by reforms to state-owned industry.
Zhang Dejiang
Zhang Dejiang was chosen by China's leaders for their toughest assignment of 2012, taking over as party chief of Chongqing after the fall of Bo Xilai. It cemented his reputation as a trouble-shooter who could be relied on to manage a crisis, and suggested he was set for the very top.
While many of China's new leaders have dealings with the West, Mr Zhang is an expert on a China's oldest ally, North Korea, and even spent two years studying economics in Pyongyang
Mr Zhang, son of a PLA major-general, started his party career on the North Korean border, before being moved to Zhejiang and then working as party secretary in Guangdong between 2002 and 2007.
His term of office was not free from controversy. When a deadly form of pneumonia - severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) - broke out in the province in 2002, the government was slow to respond.
As party boss, Mr Zhang was heavily criticised. His tough stance towards protesters and journalists was also unpopular. He is not known to be a reformer, and opposed allowing businessmen to join the party. Mr Zhang was appointed vice-premier in 2008, with responsibilities including energy, telecommunications, and transportation.
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