There are no super-political action committees. No stump speeches. No televised debates. There will be no hanging chads, no red and blue states and no concession speeches. If precedent is any guide, Xi Jinping, China’s leader-in-waiting, will not declare his love for his wife, famous folk singer though she is. There will be no release of balloons in the Great Hall of the People.

The selection of China’s fifth-generation leadership at the week-long 18th Communist party congress, which concludes on Wednesday, will be an altogether more bloodless affair than the US election. One will only know it’s over when Mr Xi walks out on stage with eight – or possibly six – other black-suited men. His appearance at the head of the Politburo Standing Committee will confirm his selection as general secretary of the Communist party and leader of the not-so-free world.

There has been far less global attention paid to China’s once-in-a-decade transition than the $6bn electoral marathon that returned President Barack Obama for four more years. But the selection of China’s next leader is arguably even more important than the US election that has overshadowed it.