From an "educated youth" in the poor countryside to Party secretary of economically booming provinces and then to the position of vice premier, Zhang Dejiang has made a steady advance into the top decision-making body of the Communist Party of China (CPC).

Zhang, 66, was elected a member of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the 18th CPC Central Committee on November 15.

He also serves as vice premier of the State Council, where he is in charge of industry, transport, social security and other important sectors. In addition, he is director of the State Council Work Safety Committee.

Before his elevation to the top leadership in November, Zhang recently reshaped the image of southwest China's metropolis of Chongqing, maintained its social stability and pushed its economic development as the municipality's Party secretary, a post he held between March and November this year.

"Governing for the people" has been the principle Zhang has abided by ever since he began his political career.

"No matter how high our cadres' posts are, we are still members of the general public. We must always bear the people in mind," he has said.

Sense of Responsibility

To ensure the safety of overseas Chinese nationals after Libya's situation deteriorated drastically in mid-February 2011, the CPC Central Committee and the State Council launched the largest-ever evacuation undertaken by the People's Republic of China since it was founded. Within 12 days, a total of 35,860 Chinese citizens were safely brought back to the motherland by sea, land and air.

The commander-in-chief of this "national operation" was none other than Vice Premier Zhang Dejiang.

It was a massive undertaking to safely evacuate, under emergency circumstances, more than 30,000 people spreading widely across different areas of a country with an area of 1.76 million square kilometers. Entrusted with the task at the critical moment, Zhang called an emergency meeting to order the Foreign Ministry, the Commerce Ministry, the Transport Ministry, the State-Owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission, and the Civil Aviation Administration of China to immediately launch the large-scale withdrawal. That enabled the world to witness China's lofty ideal of "diplomacy serving the people."