BEIJING, Oct 22, 2007 (AFP) - A spectacular few months in charge of Shanghai has proved to be a perfect tonic for the political ambitions of Xi Jinping, the son of a Chinese communist revolutionary hero with a celebrity wife.

Xi, 54, was promoted on Monday into the top organ of China's ruling Communist Party just seven months after he took charge of the nation's economic hub Shanghai, which was then struggling in the shadow of a huge graft scandal.

Xi is now being tipped as a front-runner to take over from President Hu Jintao in five years.