Du Jiahao (; born 31 July 1955) is a Chinese politician, serving since 2016 as the

Communist Party Secretary A Party Committee Secretary () is the leader of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) organization in a province, city, village, or other administrative unit. In most cases, it is the ''de facto'' highest political office of its area of jurisdictio ...

Hunan Hunan (, ; ) is a landlocked province of the People's Republic of China, part of the South Central China region. Located in the middle reaches of the Yangtze watershed, it borders the province-level divisions of Hubei to the north, Jiangxi to ...

province. He served between 2013 and 2016 as the

Governor A governor is an administrative leader and head of a polity or political region, ranking under the head of state and in some cases, such as governors-general, as the head of state's official representative. Depending on the type of political ...

of Hunan. Before that, he served as Vice Governor of

Heilongjiang Heilongjiang () formerly romanized as Heilungkiang, is a province in northeast China. The standard one-character abbreviation for the province is (). It was formerly romanized as "Heilungkiang". It is the northernmost and easternmost province ...

province, and also held many positions in

Shanghai Shanghai (; , , Standard Mandarin pronunciation: ) is one of the four direct-administered municipalities of the People's Republic of China (PRC). The city is located on the southern estuary of the Yangtze River, with the Huangpu River flow ...

, including party chief of the

Pudong New Area Pudong is a district of Shanghai located east of the Huangpu, the river which flows through central Shanghai. The name ''Pudong'' was originally applied to the Huangpu's east bank, directly across from the west bank or Puxi, the historic city ...

Career

Du Jiahao was born in

, but is considered a native of his

ancestral home An ancestral home is the place of origin of one's extended family, particularly the home owned and preserved by the same family for several generations. The term can refer to an individual house or estate, or to a broader geographic area such as a ...

of Yin County,

Zhejiang Zhejiang ( or , ; , also romanized as Chekiang) is an eastern, coastal province of the People's Republic of China. Its capital and largest city is Hangzhou, and other notable cities include Ningbo and Wenzhou. Zhejiang is bordered by Jiang ...

by Chinese convention. He entered the work force in March 1973, working at the farm tool factory of Yuejin Farm in rural Shanghai. He joined the

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

in December that year. Du worked in the farm administration system of Shanghai for most of the next two decades. In 1983 he enrolled at the Chinese department of

East China Normal University East China Normal University (ECNU) is a comprehensive Public university, public research university in Shanghai, China. It was formed in 1951 by the merger of the Great China University (est. 1924) and Kwang Hua University (est. 1925) and origin ...

on a part-time basis, earning a bachelor's degree in literature in 1988. In March 1992 Du Jiahao became the

Deputy Communist Party Secretary In modern Chinese politics, a Deputy Party Committee Secretary (; also translated as Deputy Party Secretary, deputy party chief, vice party chief) serves as the lieutenant to the Chinese Communist Party Committee Secretary, and thus the deput ...

of Songjiang County (converted to an urban district in 1998) in suburban Shanghai, rising to Party Secretary the next year. From 1995 to 1998 he studied economics at the graduate school 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 1,60 ...

, also on a part-time basis. From 1999 to 2003 Du was the party chief of the urban

Yangpu District Yangpu District is one of the 16 districts of Shanghai. It is located in northeastern part of downtown Shanghai, bordering the Huangpu River on the east and south, Hongkou District on the west, and Baoshan District, Shanghai, Baoshan District on ...

of Shanghai, and from 2004 to 2007 he was the party chief of the sub-provincial level

of eastern Shanghai. About the same time he enrolled at the

China Europe International Business School China Europe International Business School (CEIBS; ) is a business school located in Shanghai, China. Established under an agreement between the Chinese government and the European Commission in Shanghai in November 1994, CEIBS was the first bus ...

, obtaining an

MBA A Master of Business Administration (MBA; also Master's in Business Administration) is a postgraduate degree focused on business administration. The core courses in an MBA program cover various areas of business administration such as accounti ...

in 2007. In December 2007 Du was transferred out of Shanghai for the first time of his career, to

province in

Northeastern China Northeast China or Northeastern China () is a geographical region of China, which is often referred to as "Manchuria" or "Inner Manchuria" by surrounding countries and the West. It usually corresponds specifically to the three provinces east of t ...

where he was appointed Vice Governor, and later deputy party chief in April 2011. In March 2013 Du was transferred again, to become the deputy party chief of

province in south-central China. He was appointed Acting Governor of Hunan in April and Governor on 31 May 2013. Sometime in 2013, he was awarded a civil honour by the Austrian state of

Burgenland Burgenland (; hu, Őrvidék; hr, Gradišće; Austro-Bavarian: ''Burgnland;'' Slovene: ''Gradiščanska'') is the easternmost and least populous state of Austria. It consists of two statutory cities and seven rural districts, with a total of ...

. In August 2016, in anticipation of 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 ...

, Du was elevated to the post of Communist Party Secretary of Hunan. Many observers saw this as potentially preparing him for even further elevation. In December 2020, Du was appointed as the Deputy Chairperson of the

National People's Congress Financial and Economic Affairs Committee The National People's Congress Financial and Economic Affairs Committee () is one of nine special committees of the National People's Congress, the national legislature of the People's Republic of China. The special committee was created during ...

. Du is an alternate member of the

18th Central Committee of the Communist Party of China The 18th Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Party was elected by the 18th National Congress on 15 November 2012, and sat in plenary sessions until the communing of the 19th National Congress in 2017. It was formally proceeded by the 17t ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Du, Jiahao Living people 1955 births Governors of Hunan Chinese Communist Party politicians from Shanghai People's Republic of China politicians from Shanghai Political office-holders in Shanghai Political office-holders in Heilongjiang East China Normal University alumni Delegates to the 12th National People's Congress Alternate members of the 18th Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Party Members of the 19th Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Party