The People's Republic of China has completed its first smooth transition of power since its founding more than half a century ago. The National People's Congress, the Parliament, ended its two-week session on Tuesday after electing Mr. Hu Jintao as president and Mr. Wen Jiabao as premier. The two men represent a younger generation of Chinese leaders. Mr. Hu is also general secretary of the Chinese Communist Party, while Mr. Wen is a member of the Politburo Standing Committee.

The road ahead is anything but smooth. If everything goes well, however, the Hu regime will steer a prospective superpower in the fast lane of economic growth over the next decade. In reality, China's future is filled with as many uncertainties as expectations. The communist state faces a mountain of difficult problems, including economic and political reform, that will severely test Mr. Hu's leadership.

The change of government leadership, following as it did last November's party leadership reshuffle in which Mr. Hu and other younger leaders took command of the Communist Party hierarchy, contains no elements of surprise. As expected, Mr. Jiang Zemin, who has retired as party chief and state president, has stayed on as chairman of the Military Commission, which oversees the People's Liberation Army. This means that Mr. Jiang will continue to wield power behind the scenes. Significantly, many delegates, presumably Mr. Jiang's critics, abstained from voting for him.