Jiang Zemin

[citation needed] By contrast the policies of his successors Hu Jintao and Wen Jiabao have widely been seen as efforts to address these imbalances and move away from a sole focus on economic growth toward a broader view of development which incorporates non-economic factors such as health and the environment. On 9 October 2011 Jiang made his first public appearance since his premature obituary in Beijing at a celebration to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the Xinhai Revolution. Gradual retirement

In 2002 Jiang stepped down from the powerful CPC Politburo Standing Committee and CPC General Secretary to make way for a "fourth generation" of leadership headed by Hu Jintao marking the beginning of a transition of power that would last several years.

His long career and political prominence have led to him being described as the "core of the third generation" of Communist Party leaders. With the waning influence of Deng Xiaoping and the other members of Eight Elders due to old age — and with the help of old and powerful party and state leaders former President Li Xiannian and Chen Yun — Jiang effectively became the "Paramount Leader" in the 1990s.