Xi Jinping
Xi Jinping was appointed PRC vice president in March 2008. He was appointed to the Standing Committee of the 17th Chinese Communist Party (CCP) Politburo in October 2007 and has been mentioned as a possible successor to PRC President Hu Jintao.
Xi was born in Fuping, Shaanxi, in 1953, the son of People's Liberation Army veteran and reformist vice premier Xi Zhongxun. In 1969, Xi was sent to work in an agricultural commune in Yanchuan County, Shaanxi. He joined the CCP in 1974 and served as the secretary of the local party branch. In September 1975, Xi was admitted to Qinghua University in Beijing to study chemical engineering. He later received a doctorate in law from the same institution.
Upon graduation in 1979, Xi worked for three years as secretary at the General Office of the State Council and the General Office of the Central Military Commission. In 1982, Xi began serving in numerous local party and provincial positions, first in Hebei, and then in Fujian, eventually working his way up to become deputy provincial party secretary of Fujian in 1995, a position he held until 2002. From 1999 to 2002, Xi served first as acting and then governor of Fujian.
In 2002, Xi moved to Zhejiang to serve as acting governor and deputy provincial party secretary. He was elevated to provincial party secretary in 2003. After scandals rocked Shanghai's senior leadership, Xi became Shanghai party secretary in March 2007, a position he held until his elevation to the Politburo in October.
Xi is married to renowned opera singer Peng Liyuan.