China:Deliberations about the future leadership at the 17th National Congress of China's ruling Communist Party are being held in secret, but the five-yearly gathering is yielding valuable insights on key issues, including democratic reform, religion and attitudes to Taiwan.
In coming days, 2,200-plus delegates at the congress will vote on the make-up of a new Central Committee, a body of about 200 people that is expected to include a new breed of younger cadres, as well as the membership of the smaller inner sanctums of power - the politburo and the politburo standing committee.
Rumours are flying about who will ascend through the ranks. Strongly tipped are president Hu Jintao's ally Li Keqiang, top communist in Liaoning province, and Shanghai party boss Xi Jinping.
Other names being mentioned are Li Yuanchao, party chief in the rich eastern province of Jiangsu, while trade czar Bo Xilai is being mooted as a dark horse for promotion to the senior echelons of power.
However, the level of secrecy surrounding the vote is such that we don't know which candidates are on the polling card, or how the voting procedure works. But the congress has been the most transparent high-level meeting to date of the Communist Party, which takes its mandate to rule from the 1949 revolution that swept it to power.
The 73-million-member organisation is faced with a need to reform as Chinese society opens up and old-school Marxist-Leninist theory appears out of sync with the more pragmatic "socialism with Chinese characteristics" which holds sway in the world's most populous country.
Li Yuanchao, an ally of Mr Hu who is tipped to join the politburo this week, said reforming the political system was an important part of the overall reform programme, but would in no way be allowed to challenge the party's grip on power.
"It's bound up with the level of economic and cultural development. Of course, our advancement has to be orderly. You can't, for example, turn democracy into a big meeting hall where everyone is fighting and everything is left undecided," Mr Li said.
Ouyang Song, vice-minister of the powerful organisation department, which vets those seeking appointments and promotions, said there would be more intra-party democracy, a "lifeline of the party", but not at the expense of unity.
"While expanding democracy within the party, we must uphold the unity of the party and we must ensure that all the party's decisions and resolutions are carried out effectively," said Mr Ouyang, who also reiterated the pledge to stamp out corruption.
China's top cadre on spiritual matters Ye Xiaowen called on the Vatican to press on with efforts to establish diplomatic ties with China and sever links to the self-ruled island of Taiwan, which Beijing sees as a renegade province and part of China.
The communists threw out foreign clergy in the 1950s and cut ties with the Vatican, and since then Beijing has refused to allow Catholics to recognise the authority of the Pope.
Instead they must join the official Chinese Catholic Patriotic Association, which has five million members.
The Vatican estimates that eight million Chinese Catholics worship secretly in underground churches.
Mr Ye urged the Holy See to compromise on issues dividing the two sides, including the issue of who has the authority to appoint bishops. "There comes a separating river when the two sides approach nearer to each other. Then you should build a bridge, or find a boat to cross.
"You cannot just stand on the other side of river, crying foul and cursing [China]," said Mr Ye, director-general of the state administration for religious affairs.
He said religion has a positive role to play in China's future and assured foreigners arriving for the Olympic Games in Beijing next year that they will be able to have full religious services.
The congress has struck a surprisingly conciliatory tone on Taiwan so far - often high-profile gatherings are marked by threats to take the island back by force, but in his speech on Monday, Mr Hu held out the prospect of peace talks and did not threaten to invade, although he stressed China's opposition to any declaration of independence.
Lin Liyun, a Chinese Communist Party member originally from Taiwan, had reasonably kind words to say about leading members of the Taiwanese government, including Taiwan vice-president Annette Lu, who Beijing has previously called "scum of the nation".