Next Chinese leaders face loose ends left by breakneck economic growth
Economic miracles under Hu and Wen shot China to stardom but they are leaving behind an environmental mess and widening wealth gap
But they are leaving behind big challenges for the next leaders, including Hu's heir-apparent Xi Jinping and premier-in-waiting Li Keqiang , who will guide the country's fortunes for the next 10 years.
Chief among those challenges is squaring pragmatic capitalism with one-party rule by what is, in name, a Marxist party.
Nowadays, the Communist Party - the world's largest political party, with more than 80 million members - claims that its rule is legitimised by its ability to make the world's most populous nation prosperous.
Since taking office in 2002, the current leadership has overseen the continuation of one of the most remarkable economic transformations in history, taking China from the sixth-largest economy to No2, behind the United States.