Wu has been chairman of the National People’s Congress Standing Committee and secretary of its Leading Party Members’ Group since 2008, and was the country’s vice-premier between 1997 and 2003. The 71-year-old from Anhui became Shanghai party boss in 1991, the city where much of his power base lies. Wu is a Tsinghua University graduate with a degree in engineering. He was a member of the Politburo’s standing committee between 2002 and 2012.