Profile: Xi Jinping: Man of the people, statesman of vision (9)

（Xinhua）  09:24, December 24, 2012

MAN OF THE PEOPLE

Xi has expressed his deep feelings for the people on many occasions, saying for example, "How important the people are in the minds of an official will determine how important officials are in the minds of the people." His love of the people stems from his unique upbringing.

A son of Xi Zhongxun, a Communist revolutionary and former vice premier, Xi Jinping did not live in comfort as a boy.

Beginning in 1962, when his father was wronged and fell in disgrace, Xi experienced tough times. During the Cultural Revolution (1966-1976), he suffered public humiliation and hunger, experienced homelessness and was even held in custody once.

At the age of 16, he volunteered to live in a small village in northwest China's Shaanxi Province as an "educated youth."

That area, part of the Loess Plateau, was where the Communist revolutionaries, including his father, rose to found New China.

Life there was tough for an urban youth. In the beginning, fleas troubled him so badly he could not even fall asleep. In the Shaanxi countryside, he had to do all sorts of harsh labor, such as carrying manure, hauling a coal cart, farming and building water tanks.

As time passed, tough work became easy. Xi became a hardworking capable young man in the villagers' eyes. By gaining their trust, he was elected village Party chief.

He led the farmers to reinforce the river bank in a bid to prevent erosion, organized a small cooperative of blacksmiths in the village, and built a methane tank, the first in landlocked Shaanxi.

He was once awarded a motorized tricycle after being named a "model educated youth." However, he exchanged the tricycle for a walking tractor, a flour milling machine and farm tools to benefit the villagers.