Wen Jiabao is the current Premier of the State Council of the People's Republic of China, serving as the head of government and leading the cabinet of the People's Republic of China.
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. Wen is a geologist and engineer by profession and holds a postgraduate degree from the Beijing Institute of Geology, where he graduated from in 1968.
He was subsequently sent to Gansu province for geological work, and remained in China's hinterland regions during his climb up the bureaucratic ladder. He was transferred to Beijing to work as the head of the Party General Office between 1986 and 1993, and served as Premier Zhao Ziyang's aide during the 1989 Tiananmen Square Protests.
In 1998 he was promoted to the post of Vice-Premier under Zhu Rongji, his mentor, holding the portfolios of agriculture and finance. Since taking office as Premier of the People's Republic of China in 2003, Wen has been a key part of the fourth generation of leadership in the Communist Party of China, along with General Secretary Hu Jintao.
Soft-spoken and known for his strong work ethic, Wen has been one of the most visible members of the current Chinese administration, and has been dubbed "the people's premier" by both domestic and foreign media[1]. His populist approach to policy and his commoner image with the public separates him from the rest of China's power elite.
