Hu Jintao
Hu Jintao was elected president of the People's Republic of China on March 15, 2003.
He is now general secretary of the CPC Central Committee, president of the People's Republic of China, chairman of the Central Military Commission.
Hu Jintao, a native of Jixi, Anhui Province, was born in December 1942. He joined the Communist Party of China (CPC) in April 1964 and began to work in July 1965 after he graduated from the Water Conservancy Engineering Department of Tsinghua University, where he had a major in the study of hub hydropower stations. He is an engineer.
Hu began to work at the grassroots in west China's Gansu Province in 1968 and stayed there until 1982 when he became a member of the Secretariat of the Communist Youth League of China Central Committee and president of the All-China Youth Federation.
Beginning in 1985, he was appointed, successively, secretary of the CPC Guizhou Provincial Committee and of the CPC Tibet Autonomous Regional Committee.
In 1992, 49-year-old Hu was elected member of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee at the First Plenum of the 14th CPC Central Committee, which was then widely considered as an important step the CPC had taken toward generational transition of the central leadership.
From 1993 to the end of 2002, Hu was concurrently president of the Party School of the CPC Central Committee, which has been the training base for senior CPC cadres and backbones of theoretical studies over the past 70 years.
In September 1997, Hu was re-elected member of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee at the First Plenum of the 15th CPC Central Committee.
Hu became vice-president of China in March 1998 and vice-chairman of the Central Military Commission in September 1999.
In November 2002, Hu was elected general secretary of the CPC Central Committee at the 16th National Congress of the CPC.
In March 2003, He was elected president of China at the First Session of the 10th National People's Congress, the top legislature of the country.
Hu and his wife Liu Yongqing were schoolmates at Qinghua University. The couple have a son and a daughter, who are also graduates of Qinghua University.
1959-1964: Student at the Water Conservancy Engineering Department of Tsinghua University.
1964-1965: Postgraduate and political instructor at the Water Conservancy Engineering Department of Tsinghua University.
1965-1968: Participated in R&D at the Water Conservancy Engineering Department of Tsinghua University and served as political instructor before the start of the "cultural revolution."
1968-1969: Worked with the housing construction team of Liujia Gorge Engineering Bureau, Ministry of Water Conservancy.
1969-1974: Technician and secretary of No. 813 Sub-Bureau, Fourth Engineering Bureau, Ministry of Water Conservancy and deputy-secretary of the general Party branch of the sub-bureau's head office.
1974-1975: Secretary of the Gansu Provincial Construction Committee (GPCC).
1975-1980: Deputy director of the design management division, GPCC.
1980-1982: Vice chairman of GPCC and secretary of the Gansu Provincial Committee of the Communist Youth League (Sept.1982-Dec.1982).
1982-1984: Secretary of the Secretariat of the Central Committee of the Communist Youth League of China, chairman of the All-China Youth Federation.
1984-1985: First secretary, Secretariat of the Central Committee of the Communist Youth League of China.
1985-1988: Secretary of the Guizhou Provincial Party Committee.
1988-1992: Secretary of the Party Committee of Tibet Autonomous Region.
1992-1993: Member of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee, and member of the Secretariat of the CPC Central Committee.
1993-1998: Member of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee, member of the Secretariat of the CPC Central Committee, president of the Party School of the CPC Central Committee.
1998-1999: Member of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee, member of the Secretariat of the CPC Central Committee, vice president of the People's Republic of China, president of the Party School of the CPC Central Committee.
1999-2002: Member of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee, member of the Secretariat of the CPC Central Committee, vice chairman of the CPC Central Military Commission, vice president of the People's Republic of China, vice chairman of the Central Military Commission of the People's Republic of China, president of the Party School of the CPC Central Committee.
2002-March 2003: General secretary of the CPC Central Committee, vice chairman of the Central Military Commission, and vice president of the People's Republic of China.
He was an alternate member, member of the 12th CPC Central Committee, member of the 13th, 14th and 15th CPC Central Committees and is a member of the 16th CPC Central Committee. He was a member of the Political Bureau and its Standing Committee, and member of the Secretariat of the 14th and 15th CPC Central Committees and is a member of the Political Bureau and of its Standing Committee, and general secretary of the 16th CPC Central Committee. He was made an additional vice chairman of the CPC Central Military Commission at the Fourth Plenary Session of the 15th CPC Central Committee. He was a member of the Standing Committee of the 6th National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC).
He succeeded Jiang Zemin as chairman of the CPC Central Military Commission at the Fourth Plenum of the 16th CPC Central Committee, which ended in Beijing Sept 19, 2004.