Beijing (CNN) -- The Communist Party's 18th National Congress enters its second session Friday, a day after President Hu Jintao warned that a failure to deal with corruption could bring down the party and the state it controls. Hu spoke at a key meeting of top officials who will usher in a new set of leaders of the world's most populous nation. After a decade in power, Hu is expected to hand over the party's top job to Vice President Xi Jinping. "If we fail to handle this issue well, it could prove fatal to the party and even cause the collapse of the party and the fall of the state," Hu said of corruption during his speech at the start of the congress in the Great Hall of the People in the heart of the Chinese capital.
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Party's national congress in second day
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Thousands of delegates in Beijing for key meeting
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It follows a year beset by scandal for the party
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Four Tibetans set themselves on fire, Tibetan government in exile says
But there have been disappointments and discontent along the way, and @placeholder's much-vaunted "harmonious society" is showing signs of cracking.