Xi Jinping, in 2012, is going to become the next President of  the People’s Republic of China.  For those of you interested in in knowing something about him, here’s a brief CV, as taken from the South China Morning Post, 19 October 2010:

1953 - born in Beijing, the son of Xi Zhongxun, vice-premier of China, from 1959-1962.
1975-1979 - studied at Qinghua University, majoring in chemical engineering.
1979-1982 - secretary at the General Office of the State Council and the General Office of the Central Military Commission.
1982-1985 - deputy party chief and later, party chief of Zhengding county, Hebei Province.
1985-1988 - vice-mayor of Xiamen, Fujian Province.
1988-1999 - various party chief positions in Fujian province, including party secretary of Ningde county and the city of Fuzhou.
1999-2002 - Fujian province governor and deputy party secretary.
1998-2002 - studied Marxist theory in an on-the-job postgraduate program at Qinghua University, graduating with a doctorate in law.
2002-2007 - governor and party secretary of Zhejiang province.
2007 - party secretary of Shanghai municipality.
2007-the present - member of the Politburo Standing Committee of the Communist Party of China;  member of the secretariat of the party’s Central Committee, president of the Central Party School.
2008-the present - vice-president of the People’s Republic of China.
2010 - newly appointed as vice-chairman of the Central Military Commission.

What the newspaper does not mention is that Xi’s mentor is Jiang Zhiman.