Quantitatively, Premier Wen Jiabao can lay claim to being the most outstanding head of government in recorded history. But critics and admirers alike say that qualitatively, his record has been mixed.
Wen, 70, who will step down from his Communist Party post in about six months and give up the premiership in March next year after two five-year terms, met or exceeded numerous targets set in the 10th and 11th five-year plans, running from 2001 to 2010.
Since taking office in 2003, he has overseen the continuation of one of the most remarkable economic transformations in history, taking the mainland from the world's sixth-largest economy to No2, trailing only the United States.
During his reign, the mainland became the world's wealthiest nation in terms of foreign reserves - now US$3.2 trillion; the world's largest exporter, car producer and consumer; and home to the world's longest high-speed rail system.
He has overseen the world's largest poverty-eradication campaign and succeeded in lifting tens of millions of people out of misery, with per capita income growing from US$800 to more than US$4,000 in the past decade.
Since 2010 the country has also replaced the US to become the biggest single contributor to global economic growth, accounting for 17 per cent of the expansion in global output that year and about 30 per cent last year.
With its growing economic clout, China has become one of the rule-makers of the global game, representing developing countries in the restructuring process after the 2008 financial crisis.