Background
Wen Jiabao was born on September 15, 1942 Tianjin, China.
家宝 温
Wen Jiabao was born on September 15, 1942 Tianjin, China.
A native of Beichen District, Tianjin, Wen Jiabao went to the Nankai High School from which his predecessor premier Zhou Enlai graduated. Wen has a background in engineering and holds a post-graduate degree from the Beijing Institute of Geology. He studied geomechanics in Beijing and began his career in the geology bureau of Gansu province.
Wen’s training is as a geological engineer and he has served in several roles relevant to his expertise, such as minister of natural resources. His rise into the leadership ranks came in the 1980s under Hu Yaobang and Zhao Ziyang. Wen survived his attachment to Zhao and in the 1990s assumed various responsibilities for environmental, financial, and agricultural policies. Wen’s success in China during the reform era is testimony to his ability to combine technical competence with effectiveness in building relationships with a variety of patrons. In his time as premier, Wen has emerged as a technocrat with a penchant for public engagement, at least Chinese-style.
Wen operates in public to a much greater degree than previous Chinese leaders, even to the point of holding press conferences with the foreign press included. He has frequently engaged in Western-style public appearances, such as visiting a housing project in Singapore, practicing tai chi in a park on a visit to Tokyo, or in unannounced visits to the Chinese countryside to examine economic conditions.
The position of premier places Wen in charge of the management of China’s economic reform. Much of his energy is devoted to dealing with the difficulties arising from con- tinuing double-digit growth, such as judging when and how this growth must be restrained. Further, Wen deals frequently with a variety of complex economic problems, such as the large trade surplus with the United States and the accompanying build-up of foreign exchange reserves by China. Wen is thought to have been involved in pushing for the legal recognition of private property, placing it on an equal legal basis with public property, even though this proposal prompted considerable criticism from inside the Communist Party as contrary to the basic premises of socialism. He has also been forced to tackle the myriad of issues that now emerge as China’s economic growth has persisted for nearly three decades. Wen must now seek to balance numerous, at times competing goals, as economic growth must be balanced against environmental damage, growing income gaps between urban and rural populations, and problems in providing adequate health care in rural areas.
The grossly inefficient use of energy in China contributes much to its environmental crisis, but developing mechanisms to shift to greater energy efficiency while maintaining economic growth is a difficult problem. Not surprisingly, Wen’s experience in agricultural policy and his rural background contribute to his sensitivity to many of these issues. The repeal of the millennia-old tax on peasants and increasing the resources to support rural education are a tangible reflection of these concerns. Wen has taken a leading role in expressing China’s willingness to participate in global talks relating to controlling greenhouse gases, even as China becomes one of the world’s largest contributors of such gases. Wen is also noted for his efforts to address issues such as SARS and AIDS in a more forthright and effective manner than many Chinese leaders. Balancing his image as a populist, Wen takes a somewhat hard-line view on Taiwan and his term as premier has witnessed a substantial military build-up.
He joined the Communist Party of China (CPC) in April 1965.
In the first term of his Premiership Wen's attitudes towards political reform seemed ambivalent. He has remarked that "the socialist system will continue in China for the next 100 years", although later in a Press Conference at the 2007 National People's Congress, he stated that "democracy is one of the basic goals of the socialist system". Furthermore, in an interview in September 2008, Wen acknowledged that the democratic system in China needs to be improved, where the power "truly belongs to the people" through the construction of an independent judicial system and for the government to accept criticism from the people.
Wen, seen as a former ally of Premier Zhao Ziyang, is likely supportive of the latter's political rehabilitation. However, Wen has rarely mentioned Zhao publicly during his premiership. When asked by CNN whether or not China will liberalize for free elections in the next 25 years, Wen stated that it would be "hard to predict." On the subject of Taiwan, Wen reputedly believes in gradual negotiations. On the subject of Tibet, Wen toes the party line in condemning the exiled Dalai Lama for inciting "separatist violence".
Seer, of Central Committee 1987.
Wen is said to have an introverted personality. He has stated that his one regret so far in life was "Never having learned to drive a manual car." Wen is known for his adept use of Chinese poetry to convey political and diplomatic messages, to respond to journalists, or simply to begin a speech.
Wen Jiabao is married to Zhang Peili, whom he met while working as a government geologist in Gansu. According to a U.S. diplomatic cable posted in Wikileaks, Wen considered divorcing his wife due to being "disgusted" by how she used his name to extract huge commissions in the diamond trade. They have a son, Wen Yunsong, who is CEO of Unihub, a Chinese mobile services company. The daughter, Wen Ruchun, held shares of a Chinese jewelry company called Gallop.
Zhang is a jewellery expert and has played a prominent role in the nation's diamond trade. She rarely appears with Wen in public.
