Huang Ju's elevation to the Politburo Standing Committee has more to do with Jiang Zemin’s patronage than Mr Huang’s abilities or track record.

The two men worked together in Shanghai when Mr Jiang was the city’s Party chief in the 1980s.

Since then, Mr Huang has emerged as one of Mr Jiang’s most loyal acolytes.

Mr Huang became Shanghai mayor in 1991 and the city’s Party chief in 1994, a post he relinquished in October, presumably because he was being readied for higher office.

Despite his fast-track rise he is seen as an unremarkable leader who lacks experience in central government.

Huang Ju was born in September 1939 in Jiashan, Zhejiang Province and graduated in electrical engineering from Beijing’s prestigious Qinghua University.

It has not been plain sailing for Mr Huang, however. He was reportedly criticised by political rivals when his daughter, Huang Fan, married the son of a pro-Taiwan newspaperman in San Francisco in 1995.