Who is Wen Jiabao?

Wen Jiabao
温家宝
 
Key positions, most important at top:
· Member of the Politburo Standing Committee (Party position)
· Premier of the PRC (People's Republic of China) (Government position)
· Member of the National People's Congress (Government position)
 
Political Power
Wen Jiabao is in some ways the second-in-command of Chinese politics. His power comes from his membership in the 9-member Politburo Standing Committee, as well as his close relationship with CCP General Secretary Hu Jintao.

In the media, Wen is usually referenced by his government position, Premier of China. (This is sometimes translated as "Prime Minister.") This position puts him in charge of the Central Government (a.k.a. the State Council). Through this premiership, and the power he wields through his position on the Politburo Standing Committee, Wen oversees the government heads of each province, provincial-level region, and certain government administrative departments.
 
Wen Jiabao is sometimes called a "reformer" because he has talked about reform in a relatively general sense many times over the past few years—although he has been unsuccessful implementing any significant reforms.
 
Retirement Plans
Wen is slated to retire from his Politburo and government positions during the 18th Party Congress in the fall of 2012. The most likely candidate to take over Wen's premiership is Li Keqiang.
 
Faction
Wen belongs to Hu Jintao's faction within the CCP, which is struggling against Jiang Zemin's faction. More info in this video.