Some of the criticisms are designed to influence Xi Jinping, who will begin taking over from the technocratic, ultra-reserved 69-year-old Hu at a party congress that opens Thursday.
Mainstream state media, which answer to the party and dominate what most Chinese see, read and hear, have been praising the Hu era, calling it a "Glorious Decade."
It's not complete hype. Hu has presided over a run-up in domestic prosperity and global clout unseen by Chinese for centuries. When he took office, China's economy was a bit larger than Italy's; now it's No. 2 in the world.
It boasts the largest numbers of Internet and mobile phone users worldwide and is the strongest magnet for foreign direct investment. Per capita income has quintupled to $5,400.
China has a seat at the top table in global decision-making and is recognized by U.S. defense planners as the only potential peer competitor.
Under Hu, China held its first manned space flight and its first Olympics and rolled out other projects that have signified China's rise and brought the world's respect.
China's politics, however, remain a world apart, and Hu's critics say he and the rest of China's collective leadership have been too timid to change a system that is simmering with conflicts.
A central problem the critics point to is the growth-at-all-costs strategy that concentrates wealth among the few and disadvantages the many. Fixing it has been on the leadership's to-do list for more than a decade.
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