Hu Jintao

Hu Jintao
胡锦涛
Hu in November 2011
8th General Secretary of the Chinese Communist Party
In office 15 November 2002 – 15 November 2012
Preceded by	Jiang Zemin
Succeeded by	Xi Jinping
6th President 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
5th and 12th Chairman of the Central Military Commission
In office Party Commission: 19 September 2004 State Commission: 15 March 2003 – Party Commission: 15 November 2012 State Commission: 14 March 2013
Deputy	Xi Jinping Guo Boxiong Xu Caihou Cao Gangchuan
Preceded by	Jiang Zemin
Succeeded by	Xi Jinping
5th First-ranked Secretary of the Secretariat of the Chinese Communist Party
In office 19 October 1992 – 15 November 2002
General Secretary	Jiang Zemin
Preceded by	Qiao Shi
Succeeded by	Zeng Qinghong
6th Vice President of China
In office 15 March 1998 – 15 March 2003
President	Jiang Zemin
Preceded by	Rong Yiren
Succeeded by	Zeng Qinghong
8th Communist Party Secretary of Tibet
In office 1 December 1988 – 1 December 1992
General Secretary	Zhao Ziyang Jiang Zemin
Preceded by	Wu Jinghua
Succeeded by	Chen Kuiyuan
Communist Party Secretary of Guizhou
In office 8 July 1985 – 1 December 1988
General Secretary	Hu Yaobang Zhao Ziyang
Preceded by	Zhu Houze
Succeeded by	Liu Zhengwei
10th First Secretary of the Communist Youth League of China
In office 14 December 1984 – 8 July 1985
General Secretary	Hu Yaobang
Preceded by	Wang Zhaoguo
Succeeded by	Song Defu
Personal details
Born	(1942-12-21) 21 December 1942 Taizhou, Jiangsu, China
Political party	Communist Party of China
Spouse(s)	Liu Yongqing
Alma mater	Tsinghua University (BS)
Profession	Hydraulic engineer
Signature

Hu Jintao
Traditional Chinese	胡錦濤
Simplified Chinese	胡锦涛
Transcriptions Standard Mandarin Hanyu Pinyin Hú Jǐntāo Yue: Cantonese Jyutping wu4 gam2 tou4 Southern Min Hokkien POJ Hô Kím-tô

Hu Jintao (born 21 December 1942) is a Chinese politician who was the paramount leader of China and the 8th General Secretary of the Communist Party of China from 2002 to 2012. Hu Jintao also served as the 6th President of China from 2003 to 2013 and the 5th and 12th Chairman of the Central Military Commission from 2004 to 2012.

Hu was born on 21 December 1942 in Taizhou, Jiangsu. Hu left office of General Secretary on 15 November 2012 and the office was taken by Xi Jinping.

Hu was educated as a hydraulic engineer from Tsinghua University in 1965. According to official biographies, he has a photographic memory. Politically, he is moderate and careful. He spent most of his previous career in Tibet and the poorer provinces, and was therefore unknown to Western analysts until he unexpectedly became the General Secretary (paramount leader). Even as a general secretary, he was quite private - and so has never given an interview.