From mathematics teacher to Jiangsu province party boss, Li Yuanchao says working out solutions remains his daily challenge.
Graduating from Shanghai Normal University in 1972, Mr Li, then 22, taught at an evening school to help the many who had been denied the chance to study during the Cultural Revolution.
When Deng Xiaoping decided to open China's doors in 1978, Mr Li decided to further his own education, enrolling in the prestigious Fudan University in Shanghai the same year to study advanced maths.
Being a mature student, Mr Li was keen to serve on the Communist Youth League at the campus. His organisational abilities landed him the job of league secretary in Shanghai upon his graduation in April 1983. By the end of that year, he was promoted to the league's headquarters in Beijing as a secretary working with Hu Jintao, who was then also a secretary.
Today Mr Hu, 61, is the country's president while Mr Li, at 52, is running Jiangsu, the industrial powerhouse province neighbouring Shanghai.
Mr Li exuded sincerity and apologised profusely when an emergency meeting delayed this interview with the South China Morning Post on the sidelines of the recently concluded annual session of the National People's Congress, of which he is a deputy.