Hu Chunhua, a name unknown to most Chinese, has come into the spotlight with his appointment as head of the Communist Youth League of China (CYLC), a post many state leaders have held.

"The Central Committee of the Communist Party of China (CPC) has decided to appoint Hu Chunhua as the first secretary of Secretariat of the Central Committee of the Communist Youth League of China," China Youth Daily reported on Wednesday.

Hu, a native of Wufeng in central China's Hubei Province, has worked in Tibet since graduating from Peking University in 1983, and rose to become deputy secretary of the CPC committee of Tibet Autonomous Region.

Hu, 43, replaces Zhou Qiang, who was elected deputy secretary of the CPC provincial committee and acting governor of central China's Hunan Province. Zhou had been in the post since 1998.

Founded in 1922, the CYLC is a mass youth organization under the CPC.

Hu Chunhua's predecessors include Chinese President Hu Jintao, also general secretary of the CPC Central Committee, and Wang Zhaoguo, a member of the Political Bureau and vice-chairman of the Standing Committee of the 10th National People's Congress. Hu Jintao was also secretary of the CPC Tibet regional committee from 1988 to 1992.

Hubei Daily, a major newspaper of Hu Chunhua's home province, carried a long profile on Thursday, describing him as "talented" and "determined".

The newspaper said Hu, born into a peasant family, was the first person from his county to enrol in the prestigious Peking University in 1979 majoring in Chinese.

The youngest student in his class, he showed great academic talent during four years of study at the university, the newspaper said.

Hu came to public attention for the first time in 1983 when he graduated with honors from Peking University and chose to work in Tibet, turning down offers to work in Beijing.

"The areas of minority people are places where we can develop our skills to the full," Hu was quoted as saying at a meeting at the Great Hall of the People in 1983 before he left for Tibet.

"China is a country of many ethnic groups.... The modernization of the Han nationality does not equal the modernization of all ethnic groups, neither does it mean that the whole of China is modernized," Hu said.

Hu reached Tibet in August 1983 and began his career as a staff member of the CYLC committee of the Tibet Autonomous Region.

Four years later, he was appointed deputy secretary of the CYLC committee of the Tibet Autonomous Region. In March 1992, he was appointed deputy commissioner of the Nyingchi Administrative Office of the Tibet Autonomous Region.

By the end of 1992, Hu was promoted to secretary of the CYLC committee of Tibet Autonomous Region.

In 1995 Hu was appointed commissioner of Shannan prefecture, where he was said to have led technicians working in bad weather for 15 days in building the first road in a remote county.

Five years later, Hu, 34, was elected secretary of Secretariat the CYLC Central Committee.

After less than four years working in the CYLC Central Committee in Beijing, Hu returned to Tibet as secretary general of CPC Tibet Autonomous Regional Committee.

In November 2003, he was elected deputy secretary of the CPC committee of the Tibet Autonomous Region and executive vice chairman of the region.

Source: Xinhua