Instead he rules by consensus of China's all-powerful nine-man standing committee of the Politburo.

Seven members of the party's all-powerful nine-man Politburo Standing Committee observed the space docking at mission control near Beijing.

On the question of whether it has won him a seat on the Politburo Standing Committee, though, we' ll have to wait until next October for an answer.

The offspring of the most influential members of the Standing Committee of the Politburo may be influential, but they have never made it onto that Standing Committee.

Some think the politburo member hopes the high-profile campaign will help to elevate him in the runup to 2012, when the transition of power to China's next generation of leaders is due to take place.