Hu Jintao

Hu Jintao (born 1942) is a Chinese politician who served as General Secretary of the Chinese Communist Party from 2002 to 2012, President of the People's Republic of China from 2003 to 2013, and Chairman of the Central Military Commission from 2004 to 2012. Born in Taizhou in Jiangsu province and raised in Anhui after his mother's early death, he studied hydraulic engineering at Tsinghua University in Beijing, joining the Communist Party in 1964.

His early career took him to Gansu, where he worked on hydroelectric projects and rose through the provincial Communist Youth League. In 1985 he was appointed party secretary of Guizhou and in 1988 of Tibet, where his handling of the 1989 unrest brought him to the attention of senior leaders.

He joined the Politburo Standing Committee in 1992 as the youngest of its members and was groomed as the successor to Jiang Zemin through the late 1990s as Vice-President. As party leader he promoted the Scientific Outlook on Development and the goal of a Harmonious Society, balancing rapid economic growth with attention to inequality and environmental strain.

His decade in office included the 2008 Beijing Olympics, the Wenchuan earthquake, the global financial crisis, and tightening controls in Tibet and Xinjiang. In 2012 he handed power to Xi Jinping in the first orderly transfer of all top posts in the history of the People's Republic. He has lived in retirement since.

The given name Jintao, from Chinese characters that can be read as brocade and great waves, is used for boys; he has carried it through a long and disciplined political career.