There’s been a lot of information about President Xi Jinping, but what about his wife?
Here's what we know about Peng Liyuan.
The daughter of an opera singer and school
master, Peng was born in Shandong province in 1962. Various unofficial media accounts
note that her family suffered during the Cultural Revolution under Chairman Mao in the late
sixties, but Peng's talent for singing was a cause for hope and her ability landed her
a place in the Shandong University of Arts specialising in Chinese Folk Songs.
She later attended the Conservatory of Music in Beijing where she apparently sent money
home to her family as well as helping poorer students with food stamps.
At the age of 21, Peng shot to fame after performing on a televised New Year's Gala
and quickly became a household name, performing regularly for the People's Liberation Army.
According to China’s free news agency, “she has performed in more than 50 countries and
regions and was the first person in China to get a master’s degree in national vocal
music.”
Peng Liyuan met Xi Jinping in 1986 when he
was a mid-ranking official in the Communist party. In a 2011 interview, Peng recalled
her feelings on meeting the man she would marry the following year: "My heart skipped
a beat. Isn't this the ideal husband for me? A simple man with his own ideas."
The couple married in secret in 1987. Only top party officials were made aware of the
union for the first few years of their marriage. The couple welcomed a daughter, Xi Mingze,
in 1992 who went on to study at Harvard University in the US.
Since her husband became President in 2013, Peng has scaled back her singing career and
has focused on philanthropic work.
In 2013, Peng was on TIME Magazine’s list
of the “100 most influential people in the world”.
In 2014, Vanity Fair featured her in on their list of the year’s best-dressed, among celebs
and notables such as Beyonce, Charlize Theron, Kerry Washington and Princess Kate Middleton.
She ranks at number 57 on Forbes' list of the 100 most powerful women in the world.
Peng is passionate about causes such as AIDS
prevention and education for women and girls. "My hope for the Chinese dream is that all
children, especially girls, can be well educated," Peng told students during an official visit
to Germany in 2014.
The relationship between the strongman Chinese
president and his popular wife Peng has been the source of much interest for the Chinese
public. A musical homage to the couple that spoke of their "legendary love," entitled
"Xi Dada loves Peng Mama," even went viral last year.
The song represented more than that though, according to author Song Zhigang, who told
the Zhengzhou Evening News that while President Xi Jinping represented a hero fighting tigers
(by cracking down on high-level corruption), Peng Liyuan embodied the nation's "soft power."
Censors have been true to the government's policy of carefully managing the public image
of the First Lady. One particular video that was removed from Chinese news sites showed
a seemingly innocent act of chivalry by Russian President Vladimir Putin who wrapped a shawl
round Peng Liyuan's shoulders during the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit in Beijing in
2014. Peng removed the shawl moments later and was
given a coat by an aide, however, and the video was removed from Chinese news sites
and social media, showing that officials thought it was inappropriate.