[East Asia Summit] Premier Wen Jiabao, 'Man of the People' in China

Wen Jiabao is the current Premier of the State Council of the People's Republic of China, serving as the country's head of government and leading its cabinet.

He also holds membership in the 16th and 17th Politburo Standing Committee of the Communist Party of China, the country's de facto top power organ, where he is ranked third out of nine members.

A native of Beichen, Tianjin, Wen went to the famous Nankai High School from which his predecessor premier Zhou Enlai graduated. According to his official biography, he joined the Communist Party of China in April 1965. Wen is a geologist and an engineer by profession and holds a postgraduate degree from the Beijing Institute of Geology, where he graduated in 1968.

Having studied geomechanics in Beijing, he began his career in Gansu Provincial Geological Bureau; from 1968 to 1978, he presided over the Geomechanics Survey Team under the Gansu Provincial Geological Bureau and head of its political section.

Rising as head of the Gansu Provincial Geological Bureau and later as Vice-minister of Geology and Mineral Resources, Wen would rise through the ranks of the Central Committee and Politburo in the 1980s and 1990s.

Wen has been the third-ranking member of the Politburo Standing Committee, China's highest ruling council, since November 2002. During the transition of power as Hu Jintao assumed the presidency in March 2003, Wen's nomination as premier was confirmed by the National People's Congress with over 99% of the delegates' vote.

As premier, Wen has overseen the continuation of China's economic reforms and has been involved in shifting national goals from economic growth at all costs to growth which also emphasizes more egalitarian wealth, along with other social goals, such as public health and education. In addition, the Chinese government under Wen has begun to focus on the social costs of economic development, which include damage to the environment and to workers' health.

Initially regarded as quiet and unassuming, Wen is said to be a good communicator and is known as a 'man of the people.' He has appeared to make great efforts to reach out those who seem left out by two decades of stunning economic growth in rural and especially western China.

Mild-tempered and conciliatory, especially compared to his tough and straight-talking predecessor, his consensual management style has enabled him to generate a great deal of good will.

Premier Wen's popularity increased even more when he went to the disaster area of the 2008 Sichuan Earthquake a mere few hours after the disaster occurred, where he declared on national television that survivors are to be rescued as long as there is a glimmer of hope.

He was named the Executive Director of the Earthquake Relief Efforts Committee immediately following the disaster. Following his visits to the area and images of the Premier displayed on national media, numerous videos popped up on Chinese blogs making comparisons with former Premier Zhou Enlai, who also had the title 'People's Premier,' Wen's popularity was noticeably boosted.

Recently, Wen went on an official working visit to North Korea on October 4, the first time a Chinese Premier has visited North Korea since Li Peng's visit in 1993. He was greeted at the Pyongyang Airport by ailing North Korean leader Kim Jong-il. Kim rarely greets foreign dignitaries himself upon their arrival at the airport.

It shows solidarity from North Korea meaning that the country was serious in fostering a good relationship with China.

Like President Hu Jintao, whose purported brilliance and photographic memory have facilitated his meteoric rise to power, Wen is regarded as well-equipped to preside over a vast bureaucracy in the world's most populated and perhaps rapidly changing nation.

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