According to Guangdong local officials, Hu flew to Guangzhou as soon as he learnt that the rage of SARS was peaking in the city and causing widespread public panic.

But Hu wasn't there just for boosting public morale. Actually, it was during this Guangdong trip that he first put forth the idea of "a comprehensive conception of development," apparently a well thought-out answer to those hidden problems which had surfaced during the SARS crisis.

Three months later in Beijing, Hu officially called for the endorsement of a new development model for the country, which he said should be more "comprehensive, balanced and sustainable" than the old GDP-oriented growth model.

Four years later, the new theory, now formally named the "Scientific Outlook on Development", was written into the Party Constitution at the 17th CPC National Congress, becoming a guiding principle for the country's efforts to build "socialism with Chinese characteristics."

A Beijing-based political observer said that he had closely watched the performance of Hu and other new leaders of China during the SARS outbreak. "I was impressed by the fact that they not only overcame this major public crisis in a rather short period of time, but also turned it into an opportunity to readjust China's development pattern," he said.

However, the observer said that he didn't believe the new development concept was an overnight creation by Hu. As a matter of fact, people might find its earliest trace in a "development experiment" conducted by Hu two decades ago, when he was the Party chief of Guizhou, a secluded and underdeveloped province in southwest China.

In 1988, Hu launched a pilot program of poverty reduction in Bijie, a poverty-stricken mountainous region in northwest Guizhou mainly inhabited by ethnic minority people. From the very beginning, Hu had championed the idea of "balancing and coordinating economic growth, social development and environmental protection" in implementing the program.

Apart from the "Scientific Outlook on Development," Hu was also believed to be the mastermind and strong advocator of many other new political ideas and concepts that had gradually become popular phrases in the daily talks of the Chinese.

Most of these rather big political terms were simplified into short and easy-to-remember phrases of four Chinese characters, such as "Yi Ren Wei Ben" (putting people first), "He Xie She Hui" (harmonious society), "Zhi Zheng Neng Li" (governance capability of the Party), and "Ba Rong Ba Chi" (eight do's and eight don'ts for social ethics).

As China marks the 30th anniversary of its historic "Reform and Opening Up" policy this year, Hu has clearly stated that China will "unswervingly adhere to" this policy, which not only enjoys widespread support by the people, but also keeps up with the trend of the times.

"The orientation and path of reform and opening up are entirely correct, and their merits and achievements can never be negated," said Hu. "To stop or reverse it would only lead to a blind alley."

Political analysts both in and out of China say that Hu's statement has shown his confidence and determination to lead the country to advance steadfastly along the path of reform and opening up. It also helped end some unnecessary quarrel and debate in recent years regarding China's future development path.

When it comes to promoting democracy in the world's most populous nation, Hu not only has a practical roadmap, but also a feasible plan of implementation.

At the 17th CPC National Congress held in Beijing last October, Hu said in his keynote report that it is necessary to "expand intra-Party democracy to develop people's democracy."

Calling democracy "the lifeblood of socialism," Hu conspicuously mentioned the word "democracy" more than 60 times in his report. He also outlined the specific measures for improving intra-Party democracy, which include increasing transparency in Party affairs, adopting a tenure system for Party congress delegates, expanding voting for use at local Party committees, reforming the intra-Party electoral system, and gradually extending the direct election of leading members in primary Party organizations to more places.

Also at the 17th Party congress, for the first time in history, the CPC engaged its higher-ranking officials in a "democratic nomination" of candidates for the 25-member Party Central Committee Political Bureau, virtually putting the Party's new top leadership through a rare popularity test and competence evaluation.