Hu Jintao

Hu Jintao
胡锦涛
General Secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China
In office 15 November 2002 – 15 November 2012
Preceded by	Jiang Zemin
Succeeded by	Xi Jinping
6th President of the People's Republic of China
In office 15 March 2003 – 14 March 2013
Premier	Wen Jiabao
Vice President	Zeng Qinghong (2003–2008) Xi Jinping (2008–2013)
Preceded by	Jiang Zemin
Succeeded by	Xi Jinping
Chairman of the Central Military Commission
In office State Commission: 13 March 2005 – 14 March 2013 Party Commission: 19 September 2004 – 15 November 2012
Deputy	Xi Jinping Guo Boxiong Xu Caihou
Preceded by	Jiang Zemin
Succeeded by	Xi Jinping
Personal details
Born	(1942-12-21) 21 December 1942 (age 74) Taizhou, Jiangsu, China
Political party	Communist Party of China
Spouse(s)	Liu Yongqing
Children	Hu Haifeng Hu Haiqing
Residence	Zhongnanhai (former)
Alma mater	Tsinghua University
Profession	Hydraulic engineer
Central institution membership 1992–2012: 14th, 15th, 16th, 17th Politburo Standing Committee 1992–2002: Secretary (first-ranked), 14th, 15th, Central Secretariat 1992–2012: 14th, 15th, 16th, 17th Politburo 1985–2012: 12th, 13th, 14th, 15th, 16th, 17th Central Committee 1982–1985: 12th Alternate Membership of the Central Committee 1988–2003: 7th, 8th, 9th National People's Congress Other offices held 1999–2005: Vice Chairman, State Central Military Commission 1999–2004: Vice Chairman, Party Central Military Commission 1998–2003: Vice President of the People's Republic of China 1993–2002: President, Central Party School 1988–1992: Party Committee Secretary, Tibet Autonomous Region 1985–1988: Party Committee Secretary, Guizhou province 1983–1985: First Secretary, Communist Youth League 1983–1985: President, All-China Youth Federation

Hu Jintao
"Hu Jintao" in Simplified (top) and Traditional (bottom) Chinese characters
Simplified Chinese	胡锦涛
Traditional Chinese	胡錦濤
Transcriptions Standard Mandarin Hanyu Pinyin Hú Jǐntāo IPA [xǔ tɕìn.tʰáu] Yue: Cantonese Yale Romanization Wùh Gám-tòuh Jyutping Wu4 Gam2-tou4 Southern Min Hokkien POJ Ô͘ Gím-tô Tâi-lô Ôo Gím-tô

Hu Jintao (Chinese: 胡锦涛 pinyin: Hú Jǐntāo, pronounced [xǔ tɕìn.tʰáu]; born 21 December 1942) is a Chinese politician who was the paramount leader of China from 2002 to 2012. He held the offices of General Secretary of the Communist Party from 2002 to 2012, President of the People's Republic from 2003 to 2013 and Chairman of the Central Military Commission from 2004 to 2012. He was a member of the 14th to 17th CPC Politburo Standing Committee, China's de facto top decision-making body.

Hu participated in the Communist Party for most of his career, notably as Party Committee Secretary for Guizhou province and the Tibet Autonomous Region, and then later First Secretary of the Central Secretariat and Vice-President under former leader Jiang Zemin. Hu is the first leader of the Communist Party without any significant revolutionary credentials. As such, his rise to the leadership represented China's transition of leadership from establishment communists to younger, more pragmatic technocrats.