Early Life and Rise To Power
A native of Beichen, Tianjin City, Wen Jiabao went to the Nankai High School from which his predecessor premier Zhou Enlai graduated. He joined the Communist Party of China (CPC) in April 1965 and entered the work force in September 1967.
Wen has a background in engineering and holds a post-graduate degree from the Beijing Institute of Geology. He studied geomechanics in Beijing and began his career in the geology bureau of Gansu province. From 1968–1978, he presided over the Geomechanics Survey Team under the Gansu Provincial Geological Bureau and head of its political section. Wen succeeded in office, rising as chief of the Gansu Provincial Geological Bureau and later as Vice-minister of Geology and Mineral Resources.
Wen was "discovered" by then-General Secretary Hu Yaobang, and joined the ranks of the Central Committee and Politburo. There was some public speculation after 1989 over whether Wen was closer to Hu Yaobang or Zhao Ziyang, but Wen implicitly confirmed that he was a protégé of Hu by the release of his 2010 article, "Recalling Hu Yaobang when I return to Xingyi". After Wen was promoted to work in Beijing, he served as Chief of the Party's General Affairs Office, an organ that oversaw day-to-day operations of the party's leaders. He remained in the post for eight years.
Wen has built a network of patronage during his career. Throughout this period Wen was said to be a strong administrator and technocrat, having 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 in the office of Vice-Premier, considered crucial as China prepared to enter the World Trade Organization. Wen served as Secretary of the Central Financial Work Commission from 1998 to 2002. By the end of the 1990s Wen and Zhang Peili were the main investor and founder of Ping An Insurance, which was established with the help of Hong Kong tycoon Cheng Yu-tung's family through real estate firm New World Development.
Read more about this topic: Wen Jiabao
Famous quotes containing the words early, life, rise and/or power:
“Parents ... are sometimes a bit of a disappointment to their children. They don’t fulfil the promise of their early years.”
—Anthony Powell (b. 1905)
“Your faith an’ trouth yese never get
Nor our trew Love shall never twain
Till ye come within my bower
And kiss me both cheek and chin.
My mouth it is full cold, Margret,
It has the smell now of the ground;
An’ if I kiss thy com’ly mouth
Thy life days will not be long.”
—Unknown. Clerk Saunders (l. 109–116)
“Only the person who has experienced light and darkness, war and peace, rise and fall, only that person has truly experienced life.”
—Stefan Zweig (18811942)
“If Paris lived now, and preferred beauty to power and riches, it would not be called his Judgment, but his Want of Judgment.”
—Horace Walpole (1717–1797)