Lu Hao (born 1967) January 2003, Lu was named vice mayor of Beijing, overseeing the city's Industry Work Commission and Economic Commission, overseeing the broad portfolios of state assets supervision, industry, and information technology. In May 2008, Lu was named First Secretary of the Communist Youth League. He also served "ex officio" as the president of the China Youth University for Political Sciences. Prior to Lu, various political heavyweights, including former party leaders Hu Yaobang and Hu Jintao, and Premier Li Keqiang, had served in this position. At age 40, Lu became the youngest provincial-ministerial level official in the country. In 2009, Lu in
Zeng Qinghong Ju, Li Changchun, Luo Gan, and Zeng himself, were linked to Jiang's "Shanghai Clique" and considered his allies. As Jiang Zemin reached the end of his term, observers speculated that Jiang may well have preferred Zeng Qinghong over Hu Jintao as his successor. But Hu prevailed in succeeding Jiang, ostensibly because Hu was 'handpicked' by former leader Deng Xiaoping. Zeng became Vice-President in March 2003 at the National People's Congress held that year. During the SARS outbreak, Hu and Premier Wen Jiabao took very strong and assertive action while Zeng and other Jiang loyalists receded to the background. Zeng was