Jiang Zemin was re-elected to the post as chairman of the Central Military Commission (CMC) of the People's Republic of China at the first session of the 10th National People's Congress (NPC), held March 15, 2004 in Beijing.

Jiang was relieved of duties of general secretary of the CPC Central Committee, a post he had held for 13 years, and also relinquished the State presidency which he had held for 10 years. In November last year he bowed out of the CPC Central Committee at the 16th CPC National Congress.

As far back as the run-up to the 16th Party congress, Jiang had offered to leave his post as general secretary and member of the Party Central Committee to make way for younger people and so accelerate the pace of generational transition of the high-level leadership of the Party and the state for the sake of long-term development of the cause of the Party and State and long-term peace and stability of the Party and state.

The magnanimous proposal demonstrated both Jiang's foresight for the development of the cause of the Party and the State and his broad-mindedness as a Marxist statesman. The Chinese Communist Party, the nation and the State owe the smooth transition of the top leadership to his example. This is widely held as a "hallmark of the sophistication of the world's largest ruling party that has a history of 81 years."

But, in view of the complex and changing international situation and the difficult tasks that still lie ahead for the building of China's national defence and the army, the first plenum of the 16th CPC Central Committee took the decision to allow Jiang to continue as chairman of the CPC's Central Military Commission. Jiang pledged full support for the work of the new collective leadership of the CPC Central Committee with Hu Jintao as the general secretary.

"I love my motherland and my people,'' he is often heard to say. "It's my never-ceasing pursuit to serve the motherland and the people.''

Born in August 1926 to an intellectual family in Yangzhou, a culturally famous city on the Yangtze River in East China's Jiangsu Province. He received a good family education from his early childhood, which lay a solid foundation for his cultural attainment. His uncle, also his foster father, Jiang Shangqing had a major influence on the young Jiang on his way to becoming a professional revolutionary.

Jiang Shangqing, an activist in the War of Resistance against Japan, gave his life for the motherland during a battle in 1939. Four years later, in 1943, Jiang Zemin threw himself into the students' movement led by the Communist Party of China (CPC) joining the CPC in 1946 whilst a student at the Shanghai Jiaotong University, one of China's leading polytechnic universities, where he studied electrical machinery and engineering. He graduated in 1947.

After the founding of New China in 1949, Jiang worked as an associate engineer, a workshop director and a deputy director of a food factory in Shanghai. In 1955, he was sent to the Stalin Automobile Works in Moscow as an intern and returned the following year to serve as a factory director and a research institute director in Changchun, Shanghai and Wuhan. Later he went to head the foreign affairs bureau of the First Ministry of Machine-Building Industry.

In the decade following 1980, Jiang served successively as vice-chairman of the State Commission for the Administration of Import and Export Affairs and the State Commission for the Administration of Foreign Investment, vice-minister and minister of the Electronics Industry, Shanghai Mayor, secretary of the CPC Shanghai Municipal Committee and member of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee.

With a global perspective and keen on reform and progress, Jiang made a significant contribution to the establishment and development of China's special economic zones (SEZs). Towards the end of the 1970s and at the beginning of the 1980s, he led a delegation on a foreign study tour after which he took it upon himself to direct the opening of special economic zones in China, thus translating Deng Xiaoping's conception into reality.

While in Shanghai, Jiang enjoyed a high reputation among local officials and the people alike for his able leadership. After June 1989, Jiang became the core of the third generation leadership of the Communist Party of China following Mao Zedong and Deng Xiaoping, serving as general secretary of the CPC Central Committee, President of the PRC and chairman of the CMC.

During his 13 years as general secretary of the CPC Central Committee, he helped steer the nation through a precariously changing world situation and momentous progress in reform, opening up and modernization drive at home. In the face of opportunities and challenges, Jiang exhibited staunch political courage and superb leadership as expected of a Marxist statesman.

The correct leadership of the CPC Central Committee with Jiang at the core enabled China to realize the transition from the planned economy to a socialist market economy, create a new environment and achieve historic successes in the areas of economic, political and cultural development. Simultaneously he responded to a series of breaking international events that concerned the sovereignty and security of the State, overcoming all kinds natural disasters and difficulties and risks which arose politically and economically.

The past 13 years are commonly acknowledged as a period during which China witnessed the biggest leap in her overall national strength and which featured the greatest benefits for her people; a period of protracted social stability and unity and a balanced administration, a period that witnessed the significant growth of China's international influence and a major expansion of the rallying power of the nation.

The achievements are the result of the combined efforts of the whole Party and the people of all nationalities throughout the country. In these achievements are embodied the wisdom and painstaking work of the third generation of the central collective leadership, but they are also inseparable from the key roles Jiang Zemin has played.

In the decade as President of China, Jiang engaged himself in a lot of diplomatic activities as head of State. He has left his mark in many countries and regions across the world. He was often involved in high level international meetings and activities. Thanks to an independent foreign policy focusing on peace, China was fruitful and influential diplomatically and its international status and bearing on international affairs have been enhanced and grown steadily.

Steadfast to the principles of emancipating the mind, seeking truth from facts, keeping pace with the times and respecting the practice of the people, Jiang has put forward a series of important ideas and theories that have given a lent major impetus to socialism with Chinese characteristics, thus carrying forward and developing Marxism-Leninism, Mao Zedong Thought and Deng Xiaoping Theory.

On the basis of in-depth investigation and study and by pooling the wisdom of the entire Party, Jiang presented the important thought of "Three Represents'' in February 2000, namely, the Chinese Communist Party must always represent "the development trend of China's advanced productive forces, the orientation of China's advanced culture and the fundamental interests of the overwhelming majority of the Chinese people.'' This key theory caused great repercussions at home and abroad. The thought proposed at the 16th National Party Congress is regarded as developing Marxism-Leninism, Mao Zedong Thought and Deng Xiaoping Theory in contemporary China. Its attainment will provide the "foundation on which to build up the Party, the cornerstone for the Party to exercise political power and the source of strength of the Party.''

The 16th CPC National Congress has embraced it as the guiding ideology for the Party for a long period of time to come. Since he took up the post as the CMC chairman, Jiang Zemin has had a thorough insight and excellent understanding of the major changes on the domestic and international fronts and the development trends of changes in the military world. Based on this understanding he has put forward a series of new thoughts, new theses and new measures aimed at strengthening the national defence and the building of the army, thus complementing and developing the military thinking behind Mao Zedong and Deng Xiaoping's concepts for army building for the new period of development.

Jiang stressed that the Chinese army must remain steadfast in following the road of keeping fewer, but better troops in compliance with the general requirements of "being qualified politically, competent militarily and having a fine style of work, stringent discipline and adequate logistic support'' and by holding fast to the two historic tenets of fighting winning battles and never degenerating.

He also stressed the Party's absolute leadership over the army and the necessity of implementing the strategic principle of active defence, building a strong army by relying on science and technology, raising the level of commanding the army according to law and continuing with reforms in national defence and army building, and exerting greater efforts to make the army more revolutionary, modernized and standardized.

Jiang Zemin commands a wide ranging knowledge and is solidly grounded culturally.

He is widely read, especially on the latest economic, scientific and technical, political and cultural fronts. Something of a linguist, he has a good command of English, Russian and Romanian, and knows some German, Japanese and Spanish. He often recites, as at his fingertips, famous quotes from ancient Chinese philosophers or lines from ancient Chinese poetry. He is a lover of Chinese music and also fond of the symphonies of Mozart, Beethoven and other Western masters of music.

In his leisure time, Jiang likes to try his hand at such traditional Chinese musical instruments as er'hu (two-stringed instrument) and dizi (bamboo flute) and such Western musical instruments as piano. Works of art, both Chinese and foreign, are the common wealth of humanity, he would say.

Jiang has a warm, harmonious and happy family. He and his wife Wang Yeping have two sons, one grandson and one granddaughter.