Reuters reports on Vice President Xi Jinping’s emergence into the public eye at the Olympics:

Chinese Vice-President Xi Jinping has tiptoed on to the world stage this Olympics, rubbing shoulders with U.S. President George W. Bush and foreign heirs apparent but making sure he doesn’t steal President Hu Jintao’s thunder.

China’s parliament re-elected Hu as president in March and gave next generation leader Xi a five-year mandate as vice-president.

Xi, China’s point man on the Olympics, has kept his head low because nothing is certain in the opaque world of successionist politics in China.