China Vitae

Biography

Jiang Zemin, born on 17 August 1926, is a native of Yangzhou, Jiangsu Province.

After participating in student movements led by underground CPC organizations from 1943, Jiang joined the CPC in April 1946. He graduated from the Electrical Machinery Department of Shanghai Jiaotong University in 1947.

In the 1950's and 1960, Jiang held a series of positions in Shanghai's industrial sector, followed by a year of training in Moscow. Returning from the USSR, he occupied responsible positions in Wuhan and Beijing, where he became Minister of Electronics Industry. In the mid 1980s, Jiang returned to Shanghai, where he became mayor and secretary of the CPC Shanghai Municipal Committee.

Jiang was a member of the 12th through 15th CPC Central Committees and a member of the Politburo Standing Committee of the 13th through 15th CPC Central Committees. In 1989, Jiang was elected general secretary of the CPC Central Committee and chairman of the CPC Central Military Commission. He was elected president of the PRC in 1993. In 2002, he relinquished his position as general secretary. Jiang resigned as chairman of the CPC Central Military Commission in September 2004.