Chinese President Hu Jintao, Oct. 22, 2007. (Ng Han Guan/Associated Press)
In Depth
China
China's reclusive leader
A closer look at Hu Jintao
Last Updated Oct. 23, 2007
CBC News
He leads one of the world's most influential countries and holds the reins of a massive, booming economy. Yet Hu Jintao, China's enigmatic president, is almost invisible outside his native land.
Hu doesn't speak in public often. But when he does, his style is decidedly low-key and guarded — a striking contrast to the charisma of predecessors like Mao Zedong.
Even within China's elite circles, relatively little is known about him.
"He doesn't truly believe in Marxism, or open markets," one Chinese Communist Party member told the Christian Science Monitor in 2006.
"He doesn't buy international revolution, or Western-style democracy. We know what he doesn't believe. We just aren't sure what he does believe. Even Chinese can't read his face very clearly."
At a glance: Hu Jintao
Born: December 1942
Known for: Low profile, wide grin, impeccably coiffed black hair
Path to power: Became general secretary of Communist Party in 2002
Future: Given another five-year term in October 2007
The details of Hu's personal life are murky. Ballroom dancing and table tennis are among his reported interests, and he has been described as having a photographic memory.
But while the Chinese may not know everything about Hu, they apparently do like him. The leader, with his wide grins and perfectly coiffed black hair, reportedly remains popular with everyday people.
And while he might lack the bombast and charisma of other leaders, he remains one of the most influential politicians on the world stage.
An obedient boy
Hu was born into a merchant's family in December 1942. The Chinese government's website lists him as a native of Jixi, a city of 180,000 in Anhui province.
According to a 2002 report in the New York Times, Hu's mother died when he was young. He was raised by relatives — including his great-aunt, who described the youngster as bookish and obedient.
While studying water engineering at Tsinghua University in 1964, he joined the Communist Party and continued to work for it through the Cultural Revolution into the 1980s.
Later, Hu developed a political career in key Chinese provincial posts. He oversaw poor and remote Chinese regions, including Tibet, where he showed a firm hand. After supporters of the Dalai Lama took the streets of Lhasa in 1989, Hu cracked down in a move criticized many in the West as brutal and oppressive.
A meteoric rise
But his political career truly began to take off in 1992, when he was plucked from relative obscurity to join the high-profile Communist Party Central Committee. Already, there was talk of big things in Hu's future.
Former leader Jiang Zemin made him a vice-president six years later in 1998. That appointment cemented Hu's status as a possible leader-in-waiting — a promise realized in November 2002 when he became general secretary of the Communist Party.
In keeping with China's gradual transition, Hu consolidated his power in the following months. The National People's Congress elected him as China's president in 2003, and he took over the military's reins in September 2004.
His record and the road ahead
When Hu first rose to power, some speculated that he might have more liberal leanings, particularly on political reforms.
That hasn't been the case. During his October 2007 speech to the 17th National Congress of the Communist Party — at which he was reconfirmed as party leader for another five-year term — Hu made it clear that political reforms would not be in the cards.
He did pledge to address some of China's bigger issues, including economic inequality, the environment and seeking a peaceful resolution to the Taiwan dispute.
Those ideas are in keeping with China's "peaceful rise" philosophy. Hu has pledged to strive for good economic and diplomatic relations with its Asian neighbours and other world powers.
However, human rights advocates have criticized the record of Hu's regime within China's borders. They point out cases like that of Chinese-Canadian Huseyin Celil, held in a Chinese prison for allegedly having links to Muslim extremist groups.
Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper met with Hu on the Celil case before a banquet at the 2006 Asia Pacific Economic Co-operation summit in Vietnam.
It was a private, informal meeting — away from the cameras. In keeping with Hu's previous encounters with world leaders, there was no press conference and as little media splash as possible.
Just the way China's enigmatic leader likes it.
