BO XILAI, Chinese Commerce Minister The man leading China's delegation to the WTO ministerial meeting in Hong Kong this week is Commerce Minister Bo Xilai, a man praised by Western politicians and communist cadres alike for his skilful diplomacy and polished public performances. But as well as being the most photogenic of China's new generation of leaders he is also a symbol of privilege and political patronage. Mr Bo belongs to an elite group known as China's 'princelings', the sons and daughters of revolutionary and communist party leaders whose important political and business posts are secured because of their parents' positions. Mr Bo is the youngest son of Long March veteran Bo Yibo, the last surviving member of a group of communist party elders known as the 'Eight Immortals' who exercised enormous political influence from behind the scenes in the 1980s and 1990s. 'Bo Yibo made major concessions to the leadership and promised his support to Deng Xiaoping and Jiang Zemin in return for his son's advancement,' according to City University of Hong Kong political science professor Joseph Cheng. But the younger Bo's pedigree has at times been much less helpful. As with many other revolutionary luminaries, the Bo family suffered terribly during the Cultural Revolution (1966-1976). Bo Xilai was 17 when it began and was reportedly an active member of Liandong, a notoriously brutal Red Guard organisation, before being incarcerated in 1967 along with all his family members. During his five years in prison his mother was beaten to death. On two occasions, in 1997 and 1999, Mr Bo was passed over for advancement to the standing committee of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), along with a number of other princelings, due to high-level resentment within the arcane political cauldron of Beijing. These setbacks did not affect his willingness or ability to push through bold reforms, first as mayor of Dalian and later as governor of Liaoning province. He made his first big political mark in Dalian, an old industrial port city which he pledged to turn into the 'Hong Kong of North China'. In pursuing this goal he proved the usefulness of a seemingly incongruous Master's degree in journalism he earned in 1982 from the China Academy of Social Sciences. 'He knows how to court the media and how to publicise his projects and himself,' according to a contemporary of Mr Bo. His journalism training sets him apart from others in the highly secretive party leadership and even as commerce minister he sometimes has time to stop and greet journalists. His expert handling of journalists ensures him sympathetic coverage in the international press as well as state-controlled domestic media, although one reporter who exposed Mr Bo's alleged cover-up of family corruption is now serving an eight-year prison term. After graduating he followed the career path laid out for him by his father and went to work briefly at the research institute of the CCP Secretariat and in the general office of the CCP Central Committee before being sent to head a poor county in Liaoning province in 1984. His rapid rise from there to Dalian city, where he was named acting mayor in 1992, has been largely attributed to his own ability. 'He has often said he has to work even harder than others to prove his advancement is not just because of who his father is,' his contemporary said. While nobody questions his inherent competence, having a communist party immortal as his father has allowed him to break the rules and push through reforms that a less-connected official could not. Long before the central government began its rhetorical campaign on environmental protection Mr Bo was organising tree-planting programmes. His regular trips abroad to drum up investment for Dalian were unusually successful and under his patronage the city is now regarded as one of the most liveable places in China. His appointment first as acting governor and then governor of Liaoning province in 2003 coincided with the introduction of the central government's campaign to revitalise the northeastern rustbelt and the success of this policy is intertwined with Mr Bo's future political prospects. His appointment as head of the Ministry of Commerce in February 2004 was seen by analysts as a sure sign that Mr Bo is destined for even greater things, including perhaps succeeding Premier Wen Jiabao. But while his setbacks in 1997 and 1999 were partly due to a climate of antipathy towards the princelings as a class, they also involved powerful personal enemies he has made on his way up the political ladder, according to Professor Cheng. 'He has all the credentials to eventually become premier but we don't know who his enemies are,' Professor Cheng said. Mr Bo's fans are easier to identify and EU Trade Commissioner Peter Mandelson counts himself as one. 'I admire Minister Bo enormously as a very capable and tough negotiator,' Mr Mandelson told the South China Morning Post. 'He's someone you'd much rather have on your side than be up against.' This year's tortuous negotiations with Washington and Brussels over China's textile exports were a test Mr Bo passed with flying colours. In both sets of negotiations he was seen as the eminently reasonable defender of China's right to trade freely. His adversaries came away feeling he had helped them out of a tight spot and his compatriots felt he made pragmatic concessions for the benefit of China. The protracted negotiations and eventual settlements gave Mr Bo a chance to gain international prominence as a new face of China's leadership, an opportunity that should help him in future bids for political advancement. Although the US has publicly called on China to play a more active role in this week's WTO meeting Mr Bo is unlikely to be at the centre of negotiations. Under the terms of its 2001 WTO accession agreement, China was granted a grace period of five years to meet its obligations. The agreement included strict deregulation requirements related to agriculture to which it has largely adhered and there is virtually no pressure from trade partners in this particular area. Although China has been on the periphery of the real action this week, Mr Bo's smiling face has still been seen in the pages of the world's newspapers as he put his public relations skills learnt at journalism school to good use.