Heir apparent

皇储 (huángchǔ): heir apparent

Xi Jinping.

Prior to succeeding Hu Jintao as president in spring of 2013, Xi Jinping was referred to as China's “heir apparent.”

Although huangchu is sometimes translated as “crown prince,” it is a separate designation from “crown prince” (太子 tàizǐ) or “princeling,” descendants of prominent and influential senior Communist officials. Xi Jinping, son of former PRC State Councilor Xi Zhongxun, is also a princeling.

On February 11, 2009, Xi Jinping discussed international intervention in a speech to overseas Chinese in Mexico, generating yet another grass-mud horse neologism:

“There are some foreigners who have eaten their fill and have nothing better to do, pointing their fingers at our affairs. China does not, first, export revolution; second, export poverty and hunger; or third, cause unnecessary trouble for you. What else is there to say?”

“有些吃饱了没事干的外国人，对我们的事情指手画脚。中国一不输出革命，二不输出饥饿和贫困，三不去折腾你们，还有什么好说的。”