Wen Jiabao
Wen Jiabao () (born September
1942) is the
Premier of the
State Council of the
People's Republic of China. He serves as a member of its Leading Party Members' Group and Secretary of the Financial Work Committee of the CPC Central Committee. Since taking office in
2003, Wen, ranked third in the
Politburo Standing Committee of the Communist Party of China hierarchy, has been a key part of the
fourth generation of leadership in the
Communist Party of China. Wen is generally popular with the Chinese people, and his modesty and more approachable personality is held to contrast with the bold and serious Hu Jintao.
A native of
Tianjin, Wen Jiabao went to the famous
Nankai High School from which the ex-premier
Zhou Enlai graduated. He joined the
Communist Party of China (CPC) in April
1965 and began working in September
1967.
A postgraduate and
engineer, Wen graduated from the specialty of geological structure of
Beijing Institute of Geology. Having studied
geomechanics in Beijing, he began his career in the
Gansu geology bureau; from
1968-
1978, he presided over the Geomechanics Survey Team under the Gansu Provincial Geological Bureau and head of its political section. Rising as chief of the Gansu Provincial Geological Bureau and later as minister for the
natural resources sector of the economy, Wen would rise through the ranks of the Politburo Central Committee in the 1980s and 1990s. Wen's move from
Gansu to
Beijing occurred while the party, then under the leadership of General Secretary
Hu Yaobang, was conducting a talent search; Wen was quickly promoted to serve as the deputy in the Party's Central Office. He remained in the post for eight years.
Wen Jiabao is the only Standing Committee member to have served under three party secretaries:
Hu Yaobang,
Zhao Ziyang, and
Jiang Zemin. A political survivor, his most significant recovery was after
1989, when Wen was the head assistant to General Secretary
Zhao Ziyang. He accompanied then-Party Secretary Zhao Ziyang to
Tiananmen Square. Zhao was purged from the party days later for "grave insubordination" and lived under
house arrest in Beijing until his death in January
2005. Unlike his mentor, Wen was able to politically survive the aftermath of the demonstrations.During a political career dating back to
1965, Wen has built a network of patrons. During that time Wen, a strong administrator and technocrat, has earned a reputation for meticulousness, competence, and a focus on tangible results. Outgoing Premier
Zhu Rongji showed his esteem for Wen by entrusting him, from
1998, with the task of overseeing agricultural, financial and environmental policies, considered crucial as China prepared to enter the
World Trade Organization.
Wen has been the third-ranking member of the Politburo Standing Committee, China's highest ruling council, since
November 2002. During the transition of power as Hu Jintao assumed the presidency in
March 2003, Wen Jiabao's nomination as premier was confirmed by the
National People's Congress with over 99% of the delegates' vote. As premier, Wen has overseen
China's economic reforms and has been involved in shifting national goals from economic growth at all costs to growth which also emphasizes more egalitarian wealth, along with other social goals, such as public health and education. In addition, the Chinese government under Wen has begun to focus on the social costs of economic development, which include damage to the environment and to workers' health. This more comprehensive definition of development has been encapsulated into the idea of a
xiaokang society.Wen's broad range of experience and expertise, especially cultivated while presiding over agricultural policies under
Zhu Rongji has been important as the "fourth generation" seeks to revitalize the rural economy in regions left out by the past two decades of reform.
Regarded as quiet and unassuming, he is said to be a good communicator and is known as a "man of the people." Wen has appeared to make great efforts to reach out those who seem left out by two decades of stunning economic growth in rural and especially western China. Unlike
Jiang Zemin and his protégés on the Politburo Standing Committee, who form the so-called "
Shanghai clique," both Wen and Hu hail from, and have cultivated their political bases in, the vast Chinese interior. Many have noted the contrasts between Wen and Hu, "men of the people" and Jiang Zemin, the flamboyant, multilingual, and urbane former mayor of the country's most cosmopolitan city. Jiang, unlike the more reserved Hu and Wen, is known to quote maxims from Chinese and Western philosophy and recite poetry in many languages.
Like President
Hu Jintao, whose purported brilliance and photographic memory have facilitated his meteoric rise to power, Wen is regarded as well-equipped to preside over a vast bureaucracy in the world's most populated and perhaps rapidly changing nation. In
March 2003, the usually self-effacing Wen was quoted as saying, "The former
Swiss ambassador to China once said that my brain is like a computer," he said. "Indeed, many statistics are stored in my brain."
Mild-tempered and conciliatory, especially compared to his predecessor, the tough, straight-talking
Zhu Rongji, his consensual management style has enabled him to generate a great deal of good will and little hostility in Beijing.
Wen has been involved in a two major episodes involving
public health. In early 2003, he was involved in ending official inaction over
SARS. In November 2003, he became the first major Chinese official to publicly address the problem of
AIDS, which has devastated parts of the provinces of
Yunnan and
Henan and threatens to be a major burden on Chinese development. Since
May 2004, Wen made various visits to communities devastated by AIDS. By showing these actions, Wen appeared to be attempting to reverse years of actions which many activists have seen as a policies of denial and inaction. Furthermore, Wen is concerned about the health and safety of previous
drug addicts; since
March 2004, Wen had visited several drug addict treatment facilities in southern China and addressed the issue to the patients in person.
Wen's many visits to relatively poor areas of China's countryside were conducted randomly -- to avoid elaborate preparations to appease officials and hide the real situation, which is done often in China. At committee meetings of the
State Council, Wen made it clear that the rural wealth problem must be addressed. Along with President Hu Jintao, the "
Three Rural Issues" of agriculture, rural areas, and farmers were highlighted as areas that need work and development. Like his predecessor,
Zhu Rongji, Wen is generally seen as a popular communist official with the Chinese public.
Wen is also seen by many as an able diplomat. In
December 2003, Wen visited the
United States of America for the first time. During the trip, Wen was able to get President
George W. Bush to issue what many saw as a mild rebuke to the
President of the Republic of China,
Chen Shui-bian.
On
15 March 2005, after the
anti-secession law was passed, by a majority of 2,896 to nil, with two abstentions by the
National People's Congress, Wen famously said: "We don't hope for foreign intervention, but we are not afraid of it." That earned him a long round of applause that was rare even by Chinese standards.
Wen leads the current
State Council, China's
cabinet.
*
Politics of China*
History of the People's Republic of China (2002-present)*
Wen Jiabao biography @ China Vitae, the web's largest online database of China VIPs*
Wen Jiabao - Interview with Wen Jiabao
*
Wen Jiabao Biography and News*
The Age - Who is Wen Jiabao?*
How to pronounce Wen Jiabao
