China's parliament chose Communist Party chief Hu Jintao to succeed Jiang Zemin as state president on Saturday, putting the formal seal of approval on a historic transition to a younger generation of leaders. Jiang, who served a decade as president, was re-elected chairman of the Central Military Commission, China's top military post, ensuring his continued influence in top decisions in the world's most populous country.

But, in a rare display of defiance at the largely rubber-stamp National People's Congress, 7.5 percent of lawmakers voted against him or abstained.

As the nearly 3,000 delegates applauded, Hu took several deep bows and then shared a long handshake and warm smiles with Jiang, shoulder-to-shoulder in the center of the stage at Beijing's cavernous Great Hall of the People.

Jiang's chief protege, Zeng Qinghong, 63, a rocket scientist turned party apparatchik, was elected vice president, although 12.5 percent of deputies voted against him or abstained.

Foreign diplomats said the nay votes and abstentions -- a rare rebuke from parliament which essentially approves decisions already made by the Communist Party -- showed "substantial opposition" to Jiang clinging to power.

"'No' votes are the only kind of indicator of a lack of confidence in this system where it's determined in advance," said one.

But there was virtually no opposition among legislators to Hu, the 60-year-old head of the younger generation, becoming president. Hu suffered just four no votes and three abstentions.

On the streets of Beijing, there was little doubt how the election would turn out.

"Oh, it's Hu Jintao, who else would it be?" said hairdresser Guo Weihua, 32, as he watched the election on a television in a Beijing beauty parlor. "But of course Jiang isn't really going anywhere. He is still keeping some of his powers."

ORDERLY TRANSITION

Jiang, 76, handed the party's top post to Hu in November in China's first orderly transition since the Communists took power in 1949, but packed the all-powerful, nine-member Politburo Standing Committee with allies and proteges.

For five decades, heirs to power came to a sticky end. One died in prison, another was killed in a mysterious plane crash and a third wound up under house arrest.

Parliament chose another Jiang ally, Wu Bangguo, as its new chairman, with 2,918 votes for, 20 against and 12 abstentions.

He replaces Li Peng.

Jiang is expected to have the final say in military and foreign affairs, even though Hu takes over as head of state.

The outgoing president has been handling the Iraq and North Korean crises even as parliament met for its two-week annual session, and still commands the world's largest standing army.

For Li Zhizhong, a delegate from the northwestern region of Xinjiang, the division of powers between them was clear.

"Hu will manage the affairs of state while Jiang will look after national security. This isn't a contradiction at all," Li told Reuters.

"Jiang developed good relations with the United States and other countries over the last 13 years," he added.

Jiang catapulted to the pinnacle of power in China in 1989 after the army crushed student-led democracy demonstrations centered on Beijing's Tiananmen Square. He retired as party chief in November and now steps down as president after two five-year terms.

Vice foreign minister Li Zhaoxing, front runner to take over from Tang Jiaxuan as foreign minister, said there would be no change to foreign policy.

"We will maintain a foreign policy that is effective, that is welcomed by the people of China and the people of the world and is mutually beneficially and helpful, and promotes peace," Li told reporters.

JUGGLING PROBLEMS

Other top leadership posts will be decided in the final days of the parliament session, which winds up on Tuesday.

Vice Premier Wen Jiabao, 60, is set to take over 74-year-old Premier Zhu Rongji's post on Sunday and will be in charge of the economy.

The new leadership will inherit one of the world's fastest growing economies, but must grapple with swelling unemployment, rural discontent and a widening gap between rich and poor.

Polishing their credentials as men of the people, Hu and Wen used state media to champion the downtrodden in the run-up to the annual parliament session.

They will need all the goodwill they can muster as they try to keep the economy moving fast enough to create jobs for the millions of workers being laid off by state firms.

Wen inherits a particularly heavy burden from his predecessor Zhu. As top economic mandarin he must juggle challenges including a mountain of bad debt in the banking system, bankrupt state firms and an economy that is opening wider to foreign competition now China is a member of the World Trade Organization .

The no-nonsense "Boss Zhu" rammed his policies through with table-pounding and bursts of temper.

But Wen is a consensus-builder whose experience in everything from finance to agriculture will serve him well, analysts said.

PHOTO CAPTION

Chinese Vice President Hu Jintao(L) confers with outgoing Premier Zhu Rongji during the closing ceremony of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC) in Beijing, March 14, 2003. China's parliament elected Communist Party chief Hu as state president on March 15, putting the formal seal of approval on a historic transition to a younger generation of leaders. However, Hu's predecessor in both jobs, Jiang Zemin, remained a powerful figure holding sway over military and foreign affairs as he was re-elected chairman of the Central Military Commission, China's top military post. (Wilson Chu/Reuter