Hu Jintao, << hoo jihn tow >> (1942-…), is a Chinese politician who served as president of China from March 2003 to March 2013. He also served as general secretary of the Chinese Communist Party from November 2002 to November 2012 and as head of China’s military from September 2004 to November 2012. Xi Jinping succeeded Hu in all of these roles.
Hu was born in December 1942 in Jixi, Anhui Province. He grew up in Taizhou, Jiangsu Province, and in Shanghai. Hu studied hydraulic engineering at Tsinghua University in Beijing and graduated in 1964. In 1968, during China’s Cultural Revolution, Hu spent a year doing manual labor (see China (The Cultural Revolution)). He then began working as an engineer on water resource and hydroelectric power projects. In the 1970’s, Hu rose through the ranks of the Communist Party.
In 1982, Hu was named as an alternate member to the Communist Party’s Central Committee, becoming a full member in 1987. Hu was party chief in Guizhou Province from 1985 to 1988 and in Tibet from 1988 to 1992. In 1992, he was elected to the Communist Party’s powerful Politburo Standing Committee. From 1998 to 2003, he served as vice president of China under Jiang Zemin. Hu then succeeded Jiang as general secretary of the Chinese Communist Party, president, and head of the military.
Hu belongs to what is known as the fourth generation of Communist leaders in China. The first generation was led by Mao Zedong, the second by Deng Xiaoping, and the third by Jiang Zemin.
