Huang Kunming (; born November 1956) is a Chinese politician, currently serving 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 ...

Guangdong Guangdong (, ), alternatively romanized as Canton or Kwangtung, is a coastal province in South China on the north shore of the South China Sea. The capital of the province is Guangzhou. With a population of 126.01 million (as of 2020) ...

and a member of the

Politburo of the Chinese Communist Party The Politburo of the Chinese Communist Party, formally known as the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China Central Committee and known as the Central Bureau before 1927, is the decision-making body of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). ...

. Until 2022, he served as the head of the Publicity Department of the Chinese Communist Party. He joined the Publicity Department in 2014 as a deputy head. Prior to his appointment he served in Fujian and Zhejiang provinces, and is considered a close associate of

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, ...

, the current

general secretary of the Chinese Communist Party The general secretary of the Chinese Communist Party () is the head of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), the sole ruling party of the People's Republic of China (PRC). Since 1989, the CCP general secretary has been the paramount leader ...

. He was the one time Communist Party secretary of

Hangzhou Hangzhou ( or , ; , , Standard Mandarin pronunciation: ), also romanized as Hangchow, is the capital and most populous city of Zhejiang, China. It is located in the northwestern part of the province, sitting at the head of Hangzhou Bay, whic ...

Career

Huang was born in

Shanghang County Shanghang (; hak, Sông-hông-yen) is a county in southwest Fujian Province, China, bordering Guangdong Province to the southwest. It is under the administration of the prefecture-level city of Longyan. Transportation Part of Shanghang County i ...

Fujian Fujian (; alternately romanized as Fukien or Hokkien) is a province on the southeastern coast of China. Fujian is bordered by Zhejiang to the north, Jiangxi to the west, Guangdong to the south, and the Taiwan Strait to the east. Its cap ...

province. In December 1974, Huang began serving in the People's Liberation Army. Two years later, he joined the Chinese Communist Party. In 1977, after serving for three years in the army, he went back to his home county and became a secretary. He entered

Fujian Normal University Fujian Normal University () is a public university in Fuzhou, Fujian, China. FNU has been hailed as the province's "Cradle of teachers." History Tracing its origin back to Fujian Superior Normal School, founded in 1907, Fujian Normal University ...

in 1978. After graduation, he was sent by the party to work in the

Longyan Longyan (; Hakka: ''Liùng-ngàm''; Longyan dialect: ''Lengngia'') is a prefecture-level city in south-western Fujian Province, China, bordering Guangdong to the south and Jiangxi to the west. History In 736 AD, (the Tang dynasty), the prefec ...

region of Fujian in a series of administrative roles. He later rose through the hierarchy to become

Party Committee 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 ...

Yongding County Yongding () is a District (China), district under the jurisdiction of Longyan prefecture-level city in the southwest of Fujian Province, People's Republic of China. The district is a center for Hakka culture, including the traditional Hakka ''tulo ...

, then in February 1998, following the conversion of the administrative status of Longyan from a Prefecture into a "City", Huang became its mayor. In August 1999, he was sent to the city of Huzhou in neighbouring Zhejiang province to serve as mayor. In February 2003, he became party secretary of

Jiaxing Jiaxing (), alternately romanized as Kashing, is a prefecture-level city in northern Zhejiang province, China. Lying on the Grand Canal of China, Jiaxing borders Hangzhou to the southwest, Huzhou to the west, Shanghai to the northeast, and the p ...

, a prosperous city on China's east coast. By June 2007, Huang was named a member of the provincial

Party Standing Committee Members of the standing committees of the Chinese Communist Party provincial-level committees, commonly referred to as ''Shengwei Changwei'' (), make up the top ranks of the provincial-level organizations of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). I ...

and the head of the provincial party organization's Publicity Department. At around the same time, he earned a Masters of Public Administration from

Tsinghua University Tsinghua University (; abbr. THU) is a national public research university in Beijing, China. The university is funded by the Ministry of Education. The university is a member of the C9 League, Double First Class University Plan, Projec ...

. In January 2010, Huang was named party secretary of

, one of about a dozen cities with "sub-provincial" status in China. Huang became an alternate member of the

18th Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Party 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 ...

held in the fall of 2012. In October 2013, he was named deputy head of the Central Publicity Department. In December 2014, he was promoted to executive deputy head, with rank equivalent to that of a minister. The executive deputy head position of the Publicity Department is a powerful one, as it oversees roughly all day-to-day administrative aspects of the department. External observers have called Huang's installation in the position as a means to check the influence of

Liu Yunshan Liu Yunshan (; ; born July 1947) is a retired Chinese politician. He was a member of the Politburo Standing Committee of the Chinese Communist Party, the top decision-making body of the CCP, between 2012 and 2017; he was broadly tasked with the wo ...

, a member of the party's top ruling body the

Politburo Standing Committee The Politburo Standing Committee (PSC), officially the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China Central Committee, is a committee consisting of the top leadership of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). Histori ...

who is widely believed to be a conservative. Huang was also named chief of the Office of the Central Guidance Commission on Building Spiritual Civilization. The later years of Huang's career roughly follows in the footsteps of Xi Jinping, who was named General Secretary of the Communist Party in 2012. Huang began working with Xi in Fujian province where Xi served as governor. Later Huang moved to Zhejiang during Xi's term as Party Committee Secretary there. After Xi rose to become party leader, Huang again was transferred from Zhejiang to the party centre. Because of Huang's close links with Xi, he is considered a member of the

New Zhijiang Army The New Zhijiang Army (), also known as the Xi Jinping faction (), is a term used by observers to represent political figures in the Chinese Communist Party who are closely related to CCP general secretary Xi Jinping, most prominently those who ...

, an informal grouping of Xi's closest associates who were considered destined for higher office. After the 19th Party Congress, Huang became head of the Publicity Department, and a member of the Politburo of the Chinese Communist Party. Shortly thereafter he also became head of a task force on combating pornography and illegal publications. Huang was an alternate member of the 18th Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Party, and a full member of the

19th Central Committee 19th Central Committee may refer to: * Central Committee of the 19th Congress of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union, 1952–1956 *19th Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Party 19 (nineteen) is the natural number following 18 and pre ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Huang, Kunming Tsinghua University alumni Politicians from Longyan Living people Members of the 20th Politburo of the Chinese Communist Party Members of the 19th Politburo of the Chinese Communist Party People's Republic of China politicians from Fujian 1956 births Alternate members of the 18th Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Party Chinese Communist Party politicians from Fujian Hakka politicians