Chen Xi (; born 16 September 1953) is a Chinese politician currently serving as the head of the Organization Department of the

Chinese Communist Party The Chinese Communist Party (CCP), officially the Communist Party of China (CPC), is the founding and One-party state, sole ruling party of the China, People's Republic of China (PRC). Under the leadership of Mao Zedong, the CCP emerged victoriou ...

(CCP) and president of the

Central Party School The Central Party School of the Chinese Communist Party (), commonly known as the Central Party School (), located in Beijing, is the higher education institution which trains Chinese Communist Party (CCP) cadres. As of 2012, it has around 1,6 ...

. Between 2017 and 2022, Chen has was a member of the

Politburo A politburo () or political bureau is the executive committee for communist parties. It is present in most former and existing communist states. Names The term "politburo" in English comes from the Russian ''Politbyuro'' (), itself a contraction ...

of the CCP and a secretary of the

Secretariat Secretariat may refer to: * Secretariat (administrative office) * Secretariat (horse) Secretariat (March 30, 1970 – October 4, 1989), also known as Big Red, was a champion American thoroughbred horse racing, racehorse who is the ninth winne ...

of the CCP. A graduate from

Tsinghua University Tsinghua University (; abbreviation, abbr. THU) is a National university, national Public university, public research university in Beijing, China. The university is funded by the Ministry of Education of the People's Republic of China, Minis ...

, Chen served as the party chief of the institution from 2002 to 2008. Thereafter he served as a vice-minister of education and vice chairman of the

China Association for Science and Technology The China Association for Science and Technology (CAST; ) is a mass organization of Chinese scientists and engineers, which is composed of multiple national professional societies and hundreds of branches at various local and international level ...

Early career

Chen traces his ancestry to

Putian Putian or Putien (, Putian dialect: ''Pó-chéng''), also known as Puyang (莆阳) and Puxian (莆仙), historically known as Xinghua or Hing Hwa (), is a prefecture-level city in eastern Fujian province, China. It borders Fuzhou City to the nor ...

, Fujian province, and was born in the provincial capital

Fuzhou Fuzhou (; , Fuzhounese: Hokchew, ''Hók-ciŭ''), alternately romanized as Foochow, is the capital and one of the largest cities in Fujian province, China. Along with the many counties of Ningde, those of Fuzhou are considered to constitute t ...

. He worked in his youth at a mechanics factory attached to

Fuzhou University Fuzhou University (FZU ) is a university located in Fuzhou, Fujian, China. Split into two campuses by the Min River, Fuzhou University's Old Campus is located on the north bank of the river in the western part of Fuzhou City, while the New Campu ...

. Shortly after the resumption of higher education at the end of the

Cultural Revolution The Cultural Revolution, formally known as the Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution, was a sociopolitical movement in the People's Republic of China (PRC) launched by Mao Zedong in 1966, and lasting until his death in 1976. Its stated goal ...

, Chen was recommended to attend

as a "

Worker-Peasant-Soldier student Worker-Peasant-Soldier students () were Chinese students who entered colleges between 1970 and 1976, during the later part of the Cultural Revolution (1966–1976). They were accepted not for their academic qualifications, but rather for their wo ...

", where he earned a bachelor's degree. At Tsinghua he was friends with

Xi Jinping Xi Jinping ( ; ; ; born 15 June 1953) is a Chinese politician who has served as the general secretary of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) and chairman of the Central Military Commission (CMC), and thus as the paramount leader of China, s ...

, who was also attending Tsinghua at the time. Chen joined the Communist Party in November 1978. After graduating from Tsinghua he returned to Fuzhou University to become a lecturer. In September 1979 he headed back to Tsinghua where he completed a Master's of Science degree. He stayed at Tsinghua to work for the Communist Party and its affiliated Youth League as a political organizer. Between 1990 and 1992 he went on a stint at

Stanford University Stanford University, officially Leland Stanford Junior University, is a private research university in Stanford, California. The campus occupies , among the largest in the United States, and enrolls over 17,000 students. Stanford is consider ...

as a visiting scholar. Beginning in August 1993, he became the deputy chief of the party organization at Tsinghua, becoming executive deputy chief two years later. In 2002 he became head of the Tsinghua party organization. In November 2008, Chen became Vice Minister of Education, leaving his post at Tsinghua shortly thereafter. In September 2010, Chen was sent to Liaoning to serve as Deputy Communist Party Secretary of the province, where he served for a mere seven months. In April 2011 Chen became the head of the party branch and vice chairman of the

(CAST), succeeding

Deng Nan Deng Nan () (born October 1945 in Guang'an, Sichuan) is a Chinese politician and physicist. Early life Deng was born the second daughter of Deng Xiaoping with his third wife Zhuo Lin. Deng studied physics at Peking University from 1964 to 1970 ...

Rise to prominence

In April 2013, following the ascension of Xi Jinping to the posts of

General Secretary Secretary is a title often used in organizations to indicate a person having a certain amount of authority, power, or importance in the organization. Secretaries announce important events and communicate to the organization. The term is derived ...

and President, Chen left his post at CAST and was transferred to become executive deputy head of the Organization Department of the Chinese Communist Party.申维辰任中国科协党组书记陈希不再担任
/ref> Chen is widely seen as a confidant and ally of Xi Jinping. At the

19th Party Congress The 19th National Congress of the Chinese Communist Party (commonly referred to as ''Shíjiǔ Dà''; ) was held at the Great Hall of the People, Beijing, between 18 and 24 October 2017. 2,280 delegates represented the party's estimated 89 mill ...

, Chen was named head of the Organization Department of the Chinese Communist Party, placed in charge of party personnel. As was customary for an Organization Department head, he was given a seat on the

19th Politburo of the Chinese Communist Party The 19th Central Politburo of the Chinese Communist Party () was elected by the 1st Plenary Session of the 19th Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Party on 25 October 2017, shortly following the 19th National Congress of the Chinese Co ...

. Unusually, however, Chen Xi broke nearly thirty years of party precedent by becoming the president of the

without holding a seat on the Politburo Standing Committee. While this was seen as a "demotion" of the status of the Central Party School, it was also seen as an elevation of Chen Xi's position. Chen is a member of the

19th Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Party 19 (nineteen) is the natural number following 18 and preceding 20. It is a prime number. Mathematics 19 is the eighth prime number, and forms a sexy prime with 13, a twin prime with 17, and a cousin prime with 23. It is the third full re ...

, and was a member of the 16th and 17th Central Commissions for Discipline Inspection. Beginning in 2013, he also was a member of the

Central Leading Group for Inspection Work The Central Leading Group for Inspection Work () is a coordination body set up under the Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Party for the purpose of managing party disciplinary inspections nationwide. Inspection work began in the early ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Chen, Xi Members of the 19th Politburo of the Chinese Communist Party Tsinghua University alumni Politicians from Fuzhou Chinese Communist Party politicians from Fujian 1953 births People's Republic of China politicians from Fujian Living people Fuzhou University faculty