The Chinese not the US president is the most powerful person in the world, according to Forbes magazine, DPA reported.
President Hu Jintao was placed first on the list, ahead of US President Barack Obama, who topped last year's rankings, in the list published Wednesday in New York.
Forbes said Hu was the "paramount political leader of more people than anyone else on the planet; exercises near dictatorial control over 1.3 billion people, one-fifth of world's population.
"Unlike Western counterparts, Hu can divert rivers, build cities, jail dissidents and censor internet without meddling from pesky bureaucrats, courts."
Obama was ousted from top spot following the set-back of Tuesday's mid-term elections.
"It's quite a come-down for last year's most powerful person, who after enacting widespread reforms in his first two years in office will be hard-pressed to implement his agenda in the next two."
Saudi Arabia's King Abdullah al Saud, who is also prime minister, was unexpectedly third in the rankings. He was described as "absolute ruler of a desert kingdom that contains the world's largest crude oil reserves and the two holiest sites in Islam."
Russia's Prime Minister Vladimir Putin was fourth, well ahead of President Dmitry Medvedev in 12th spot. "Putin still pulls the puppet strings," the article said.
Germans occupied places five and six in the list. Pope Benedict XIV was ranked fifth as the "highest earthly authority for 1.1 billion souls, or one-sixth of world's population."
He came just above Chancellor Angela Merkel, described by the magazine as "the most powerful woman on the planet" and in charge of Europe's largest economy.
The top 10 also included British Prime Minister David Cameron (7th), chairman of the US Federal Reserve Ben Bernanke (8th), Sonia Gandhi, president of the Indian National Congress party (9th), and Bill Gates, the co-chairman of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation (10th).
The list of the world's 68 most powerful people out of a total global population of 6.8 billion is based on power and influence, not on moral concerns, which explains the inclusion of terrorist leader Osama bin Laden in 57th place.