In 1999, Li Keqiang became China's youngest provincial governor when he was elected as acting governor of Henan Province at the age of 45. Li was also the country's first governor who holds a doctor's degree.

He had worked for the Communist Youth League of Peking University since graduating from law school in 1982. In 1998, he was transferred to Henan Province, a region where economic development had lagged behind much of China. Li was dispatched to Henan with the role of improving the province's economy, and he lived up to the position's demands. The per-capita GDP of Henan was 4,976 yuan when Li assumed power, ranking it 21st among the country's 31 provinces, autonomous regions and municipalities. After fours years under Li, in 2003, the province's per-capita GDP had risen to 7,590 and its ranking had climbed to 18th.

Li also did much to help people with AIDS in the province, assigning extra help for people with the virus and visiting three villages struck by it himself.

As well as being popular in Henan for this, his stand against corruption, and the economic improvements he brought, Li was also known as a likeable province leader. "He is an official much more like a scholar, who wears typical gentle smiles," said one government official from Henan.

In December 2004 Li was transferred to the position of Secretary of the CPC Liaoning Provincial Committee. In Liaoning, a heavily industrialized province, Li has continued to build on his work and experiences in Henan.

Generation after reform

"They belong to the generation that's grown up during the reform and opening up period," said Wang Wei, a professor at the China National School of Administration. "They were born in a difficult time but they stepped into society somewhere around 1978, the year that China's reforms kicked off."

As children of that generation, "they all have firm faith in China's reform and opening up," he added.

Mao Shoulong, head of the Department of Public Administration, Renmin University of China, added, "They are direct beneficiaries of the reforms and wave riders of the market economy. They matured during the time of mind emancipation and are able to absorb Western thoughts. They are more flexible and tend to ignore petty regulations."