President Hu Jintao - china - Little was known about the low-profile Mr Hu when he was elected by the National People's Congress in March 2003. His position as the presidential heir-apparent had been cemented at the 16th Communist Party Congress in 2002, when he succeeded Jiang Zemin as head of the party. Mr Jiang's decision to stand down as head of the powerful Central Military Commission in 2004, three years earlier than planned, was said to have completed the first orderly transition of power since the communist revolution in 1949. Mr Hu has made the fight against corruption a priority; he has promised to promote good governance, saying the fate of socialism is at stake. But he has rejected Western-style political reforms, warning that they would lead China down a 'blind alley'. Hu Jintao was born in Anhui province in 1942, according to his official biography. He studied hydroelectric engineering at university in Beijing and worked in the Ministry of Water Conservancy and Power after he graduated. A committed Communist Party member since 1964, his party career took off in the late 1970s. In the 1980s he served as party chief in Guizhou and Tibet, where he oversaw crackdowns on pro-independence protests. In 1992 Mr Hu became the youngest member of the Politburo Standing Committee, the party's main decision-making body. He is said to enjoy dancing and table tennis and has been described as a cautious, intelligent man with remarkable powers of memory. Party loyalty and obedience are believed to have contributed to his political rise.