"The snow is still falling and the disaster is spreading. I am burning with anxiety. Just can't sleep or eat well," he told the workers.

A few days later, he visited a remote village seriously affected by the snow disaster near Guilin of the southern Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, and spent the Spring Festival, or the Chinese lunar new year, with the villagers.

Path to leadership

Although born in the affluent east China, Hu spent the prime time of his youth working in the poor and barren western regions.

As the Party chief of Guizhou, he had traveled extensively for personal investigations, leaving his footsteps in all the 86 counties and cities of the province. During his four-year stay in Tibet, Hu, braving the plateau region's hostile natural conditions, visited many areas and established extensive contacts with people from different walks of life. This had given him a chance to get a full picture of the country.

People close to him revealed that Hu always reminded himself and other senior officials of the necessity to keep a sober mind and stay alert to possible risks, no matter what favorable situation the country is faced with.

"People's voice is the top indicator, their need is the top priority, and their satisfaction level is the top criterion for our work," Hu always said.

A native of Jixi county in eastern Anhui Province, Hu was born in Taizhou city of neighboring Jiangsu Province in December 1942 and grew up there till he was enrolled in the Tsinghua University.

Leaving the college in 1968, he had a long and rich experience of working in west China, 14 years in Gansu and eight years in Guizhou and Tibet.

In the early 1980s, Hu headed the Communist Youth League of China (CYLC), the world's largest youth organization with more than 50 million members at that time.

Hu walked into spotlight in 1992, when at the age of 49 he became the youngest member of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee, the country's top decision making body.

In the following decade, he directly participated in the decision making of major Party, political, military and foreign affairs, gaining much experience and showing great competence.

At the first plenary session of the 16th CPC Central Committee in 2002, he was elected General Secretary of the CPC Central Committee, and was elected Chinese President the next March.

In 2004, he became chairman of the CPC Central Military Commission at the fourth plenary session of the 16th CPC Central Committee.

(Xinhua News Agency, March 16, 2008)