It has taken five years for President Hu Jintao to finally reveal who he really is. When the enigmatic Mr Hu became the front man of the Communist Party in November 2002, the question on everybody's lips was: 'Who is Hu?' The suggestions ranged from closet reformer to puppet president. Few had a clue.
But the temptation was strong to write off the new boss of the world's biggest political organisation. Mr Hu, at 59 the youngest leader in the party's history, was a bland face who paled beside his charismatic predecessors Mao Zedong and Deng Xiaoping .
Moreover, his immediate predecessor, Jiang Zemin , cast a long shadow over him. Even after the then 78-year-old Mr Jiang relinquished the powerful top military post in the autumn of 2004, his presence was very much felt. It looked as if Mr Hu had assumed Mr Jiang's titles but not his power, leaving observers wondering if a generational change had really taken place.
In many regards, Mr Hu is the antithesis of Mr Jiang. Compared to the latter's expansive or even pompous style, analysts say Mr Hu would rather err on the side of caution. Having spent more than 20 years working in poor western areas, he seems more at home shaking hands with peasants than foreign diplomats and multinational executives. He is well known for keeping his personality a mystery to outsiders and is said never to have granted a one-on-one interview.
Nevertheless, his first five years in power have revealed the president to be the ultimate product of the party system. Through much underestimated political adroitness, the hydraulic engineer conceived a grand strategy to put his own stamp firmly on the party. He turned out to be a shrewd power player, a top communist ideologue, a capable autocrat, an unyielding hardliner and a fervent believer in prosperity under one-party rule.
'In many senses, Hu's far more politically astute and effective than Jiang Zemin,' said Steve Tsang, senior research fellow in Modern Chinese Studies at St Antony's College, Oxford University. 'He's not only looking to consolidate his own power but to sustain the party's long-term monopoly on power.'