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Cheng Li, professor of government and Woodrow Wilson Fellow was quoted in this article about the new Communist Party General Secretary.  Hu Jintao, the one time engineer who built his family's storied roots, built his political career in the nation's poor inlands. 

Educated in Beijing, Hu stayed away from the comfort of the big cities.  Instead, he devoted most of his political career to the poorest regions of inland China.  That experience set him apart from members of Beijing's infamous Shanghai gang, who rose almost exclusively through the ranks of that wealthy coastal city.  By choosing the inland path, Hu avoided becoming the target of resentment from cadres concerned about an unfair coastal-inland divide. 

Li said, "He showed them that he was willing to take hard jobs, to be tested, to show devotion and loyalty to the party.  This can be a model to other mainland leaders, especially those who are not princelings." 

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