By Ben Blanchard and Benjamin Kang Lim

BEIJING, Sept 5 (Reuters) - When Hu Jintao finally reached China's pinnacle of power as Communist Party chief in 2002 after a decade as heir apparent, he still faced formidable challenges.

His powerful predecessor, Jiang Zemin, still held the state presidency and top military post and had stacked so many proteges into the upper reaches of power that one political source commented: "Every way Hu looked, there was a Jiang man."

There was even a top Jiang ally, Vice President Zeng Qinghong, waiting in the wings to take over should Hu falter.

Months later, Hu began what analysts say has been a remarkably effective drive to neutralise key rivals, stake out a dramatic shift in policy direction and ultimately emerge from Jiang's shadow.

And when the Party convenes its 17th congress in mid-October he is expected to further tighten his hold by retiring as many Jiang holdovers as possible and stacking the top echelon, the Politburo Standing Committee, with his own men. He may even name his own heir apparent.

"Many people have consistently underestimated Hu Jintao," said Lin Chong-Pin, a veteran China watcher at Taiwan's private Tamkang University.

"Hu has done better than Jiang at comparable stages."

For years, Hu remained something of a mystery after he was helicoptered into the Politburo Standing Committee, the Party's decision-making centre in 1992 by then paramount leader Deng Xiaoping. At 49, he was its youngest member.

A hydraulic engineer by training, Hu cut his political teeth in dirt-poor Guizhou and then in Tibet, where he oversaw a crackdown on pro-independence protests in 1988-1989.

But few personal details were known about him save that he liked dancing and ping-pong, had a photographic memory and had a son and a daughter.

Jiang, now 81, handed Hu the top Party job in November 2002, the presidency in 2003 and the military commission post in 2004, completing the country's first smooth generational leadership change since the 1949 Communist revolution.

MAN OF THE PEOPLE

An early test for the new leader came with the deadly outbreak of SARS (Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome) in the spring of 2003, which was filling hospital beds in Beijing despite government claims it was under effective control.

Surprising many of his critics with his decisiveness, Hu ordered the government to end the cover-up and sacked the health minister and the Beijing mayor.

He also staked out a clear policy shift from his predecessor, who courted the capitalists who had become players in society and brought them under the Communist Party's wing.

Jiang's tenure also brought uneven economic growth, a widening gap between the richer coastal areas and the backward countryside, environmental degradation and growing social unrest.

Acquainted with poverty as the Party boss of some of China's poorest provinces, Hu has championed the have-nots, eased the tax burden and education costs of poor farmers and speeded up health care reform to raise living standards and curb unrest.

With Jiang looking over his shoulder, Hu has built his power and popularity by portraying himself as a man of the people.

SING-SONG

Hu huddled with a Mongolian herdsman in a tent in freezing weather, shook hands with medical workers battling SARS and spent just 30 yuan ($4) on two days of meals on an official trip.

Still, Hu has few qualms about showing his conservative credentials to allay fears among Party hardliners and elders that reforms could erode the Party's grip on power. Authorities have jailed journalists, lawyers and rights campaigners on Hu's watch.

While at home with Chinese people, Hu has not always appeared as comfortable on the international scene as Jiang, a man never embarrassed to launch into song in front of visiting foreign dignitaries. "O Sole Mio" was one favourite.

Hu, now 64, is positively staid in comparison. He often appears slightly out of place before the cameras at international summits and diplomats say he prefers more scripted meetings.

Through it all, Hu has been careful not to step on his predecessor's toes and has avoided a political showdown.

"Hu Jintao has been very successful in making sure that his position really isn't under threat. Because he has understood that question of balance quite well," said Rana Mitter, Chinese politics lecturer at Oxford University.

"I think he knows where his strength lies and where it's important that different points of view are heard within the Party." ($1=7.546 Yuan)

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