Lenh Ke Hoach was born in 1956, in a family of middle-class officials in Binh Luc district, Son Tay province.

According to Lenh Ke Hoa’s brother, this family had 5 brothers, named by their father after the most popular nouns in the press at that time: Lenh Phuong Cham, Lanh Policy, Lanh Lo Tuyen, Lanh Ke

Years in the countryside

Lenh Ke Hoach (second row, fourth from left) took a souvenir photo with the Binh Luc District Youth Union in 1979, before moving to work at the Central Youth Union.

People from the same hometown as the Lenh family remember that Mr. Lenh Ho Da was very strict with his children, requiring them to work in the fields, even if the family had the means.

`I often see their children practicing oratory in the yard. People admire it because the family is cultured,` Caixin quoted a local resident as saying.

In 1973, Lenh Ke Plan, then 16 years old, was sent to Binh Luc Printing Factory to work as a printing worker.

According to Mr. Duong Tan, a childhood friend of Lenh Ke Hoach, Linh is a very enthusiastic person, knows how to be polite and speaks well.

`Lanh Ke Hoach is a good comrade. Even though I am the secretary of the district union, Ke Hoach does the main job. He has advantages worth learning from,` Ms. Luong wrote in her diary in 1976.

In 1978, Ling Jihua was transferred to the Party Committee of Yuncheng district in Shanxi province and sent to study at the Central Youth Union School (now the Chinese Youth Academy of Politics).

`It was not unexpected that he was retained by the Central Youth Union. The work of the District Youth Union cannot leave him, but Linh Ke Plan working at the central level will contribute more and be more profitable.`

Developed from the Central Youth Union

While working at the Central Youth Union, Lenh Ke Hoach met and married Ms. Coc Le Binh (middle).

After more than 4 years working at the Propaganda Department, Lenh Ke Hoa returned to the Central Youth Union to earn a university degree in political education, within two years 1983-1985.

Also during this time, Lenh met Coc Le Binh, his future wife.

First Secretary of the Central Youth Union for the period 1984-1985 was Mr. Ho Jintao.

In July 1985, Lenh Ke Plan was promoted to deputy head of the Theory Department of the Propaganda Department.

During his 16 years working at the Central Youth Union, Lenh Ke Hoan was mainly in charge of propaganda work.

`When he was in the Binh Luc District Youth Union, Ling Ke Hoach worked very hard to practice his writing. Everyone said that the reason he developed well at the Central Youth Union was partly because of his eloquence and high level of calligraphy.`

Step into Zhongnanhai

At the end of 1995, Lenh Ke Hoan’s career path had an important development, when he was transferred to be the head of the third team of the Investigation Research Department of the Party Central Office.

After the 15th Congress of the Communist Party of China, Ling was promoted to head of the Investigation Research Department in June 1998.

At the 16th Congress in 2002, Linh Ke Hoa was elected as an alternate member of the Central Committee.

Ling Ke Plan reached the pinnacle of his political career at the 17th Congress in 2007. At this congress, Ling entered the ranks of party and state leadership, when he officially became secretary of the Party Central Committee and chief secretary.

`The Party Central Committee’s Office has a particularly important position in the Chinese political system. Ling Kehua becoming the head of this agency made everyone at that time look forward to his political future,`

Ling’s predecessors such as Wang Gang, Zeng Qinghong, and Wen Jiabao all became members of the Politburo, even the Politburo Standing Committee, the center of supreme power of the Chinese Communist Party.

After Ling Ke Plan became the leader of the Party Central Committee Office, his brother Linh Policy (left) had rapid advancement in the official position of Son Tay province.

After Ling Ke Plan became the leader of the Party Central Office, this politician’s relatives either made great strides in their career or became extremely wealthy.

Ling’s second brother, Ling Zheng Sach, was promoted to standing vice-chairman of the Shanxi Provincial Development and Reform Commission in 2003, then became chairman just a year later.

Ling Jihua’s brother-in-law, Wang Jiankang, was promoted to vice chairman of Yuncheng city in Shanxi province in 2009. Wang’s wife, Linglu, is deputy director of the city’s Central Hospital.

Ling’s youngest brother, Ling Huancheng, was originally a reporter for Xinhua News Agency, but gave up journalism to do business in 2003. That year, Ling Huancheng became general director of a member company of Xi Jinping.

However, after the accident that led to the death of Ling Gu, Ling Jihua’s only son, in March 2012, this politician’s career completely changed.

After the 18th Congress in November 2012, Lenh lost his position as secretary of the Party Central Committee and was only an ordinary Central Committee member.