China’s Communist Party convened its annual plenary session of its 17th Central Committee on Tuesday with mandate to root out government corruption. But lurking in the background was a more compelling topic: Who will become China’s next leader in 2012?

Analysts are watching the meeting to see whether Vice-President Xi Jinping is given the additional title of vice-chairman of the Central Military Commission. Such an appointment would be seen as a confirmation that Xi, 56, is set to succeed President Hu Jintao when Hu’s term ends in 2012.

Yet Chinese politics are so opaque that no outsider can say for certain that Xi, the presumed heir, will win the position — or that there will be a mark against him should he not.

“There is no foregone conclusion these days,” said a political analyst at a Beijing institution tied to the Communist Party.

Since the founding of the People’s Republic 60 years ago, the Communist Party has governed both the Chinese people and itself strictly from the top down, with all important actions approved by a handful of party veterans united by power and personal relationships.

China’s governing elite, like any group, has factions, but they are tightly cloaked. Xi, for example, is widely believed to be the favorite of Jiang, the same President who picked Hu. His chief rival, supported by Hu, is Deputy Prime Minister Li Keqiang.