Guangdong leader strengthened in China leadership stakes as rival party boss ousted

Guangdong Communist Party Secretary Hu Chunhua attends the Guangdong delegation's group discussion during the National People's Congress (NPC) in Beijing, China March 6, 2013. REUTERS/Jason Lee

GUANGZHOU, China (Reuters) - Hu Chunhua, the Communist Party boss of China's southern economic powerhouse of Guangdong has long been considered a rising political star. Now, the surprise dismissal of a key regional rival may well have bolstered that image.

Sources close to top party and government officials have long touted the 54-year-old as one of the most promising of the so-called "sixth generation" of leaders born in the 1960s, someone who could be a contender to take the top job when President Xi Jinping eventually steps down.