Lou Yangsheng (; born October 1959) is a Chinese politician and the current

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 ...

Henan Henan (; or ; ; alternatively Honan) is a landlocked province of China, in the central part of the country. Henan is often referred to as Zhongyuan or Zhongzhou (), which literally means "central plain" or "midland", although the name is al ...

province. Originally from Zhejiang province, Lou was the Communist Party Secretary of

Lishui Lishui (; Lishuinese: ''li⁶ syu³'' ) is a prefecture-level city in the southwest of Zhejiang province, People's Republic of China. It borders Quzhou, Jinhua and Taizhou to the north, Wenzhou to the southeast, and the province of Fujian to ...

in his early career. He headed the party's propaganda department in Hainan before being transferred to Shanxi to become the provincial

Deputy 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 deputy ...

Biography

Lou Yangsheng was born in Pujiang 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 ...

, in 1959. During 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 ...

, he worked as a

sent-down youth The sent-down, rusticated, or "educated" youth (), also known as the ''zhiqing'', were the young people who—beginning in the 1950s until the end of the Cultural Revolution, willingly or under coercion—left the urban districts of the ...

in rural areas near his hometown. In March 1979, Lou was one of the first batch of students admitted to university after the restoration of the ''

Gaokao The National College Entrance Examination (NCEE), commonly known as the gaokao (), is a standardized college entrance exam held annually in mainland China. It is required for entrance into almost all higher education institutions at the underg ...

'' exams under

Deng Xiaoping Deng Xiaoping (22 August 1904 – 19 February 1997) was a Chinese revolutionary leader, military commander and statesman who served as the paramount leader of the People's Republic of China (PRC) from December 1978 to November 1989. After CC ...

. He attended

Zhejiang Normal University Zhejiang Normal University (ZJNU) is a comprehensive public university in Jinhua city, Zhejiang province, China. Its main campus is next to the Shuanglong Cave national park and covers an area of more than 220 hectares with a total floor space ...

and joined 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 ...

during his time at the university. He then worked as a middle school teacher in

Longyou County Longyou County is a county of Quzhou City, in the west of Zhejiang Province, China. In it is located the Huzhen pagoda (). The Quzhou Longyou Caves or Grottoes (, )http://www.ancient-wisdom.co.uk/chinalongyou.htm] are a local feature. Administr ...

. In 1984, Lou became the

Communist Youth League The Communist Youth League of China (CYLC), also known as the Young Communist League of China or simply the Communist Youth League (CYL), is a youth movement of the People's Republic of China for youth between the ages of 14 and 28, run by the ...

secretary of county, beginning his political career. Lou spent most of his political career in Zhejiang. He rose quickly in the Communist Youth League system, through 'acid tests' in Longyou County in the local party organization there. Then he was elevated to CYL leader of

Quzhou Quzhou is a prefecture-level city in western Zhejiang province, People's Republic of China. Sitting on the upper course of the Qiantang River, it borders Hangzhou to the north, Jinhua to the east, Lishui to the southeast, and the provinces o ...

, then CYL leader of Zhejiang province. In June 1997, he earned a Master's Business Administration (MBA) from

Zhejiang University Zhejiang University, abbreviated as ZJU or Zheda and formerly romanized as Chekiang University, is a national public research university based in Hangzhou, Zhejiang, China. It is a member of the prestigious C9 League and is selected into the na ...

. In 1999, he began a short term as a visiting scholar at

University of Houston The University of Houston (UH) is a Public university, public research university in Houston, Texas. Founded in 1927, UH is a member of the University of Houston System and the List of universities in Texas by enrollment, university in Texas ...

in the United States. In November 1999, he left the CYL system to become mayor of

Jinhua , alternately romanized as Kinhwa, is a prefecture-level city in central Zhejiang province in eastern China. It borders the provincial capital of Hangzhou to the northwest, Quzhou to the southwest, Lishui to the south, Taizhou to the east, ...

, then party secretary the city of

. During his terms in Jinhua and Lishui, Lou worked under the direction of then-Zhejiang party secretary

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 ...

. As such Lou has been named by political observers as 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 ...

", politicians who once worked under Xi and share his governing philosophies. In January 2008, he became vice chair of the People's Political Consultative Conference of Zhejiang and the head of the province's United Front Department. In January 2009, Lou left Zhejiang to become 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 ...

of Hainan and the province's party organization department head; in February 2010 he became concurrently the secretary of the Education Work Commission of the province. In 2012 he was transferred again, this time to Hubei, to serve on the standing committee there and also as head of the provincial organization department. After the Shanxi "political earthquake" of 2014 which led to the demise of many top officials in the province, Lou was transferred to Shanxi province to become deputy party secretary; he replaced

Jin Daoming Jin Daoming (; born December 1953) is a former Chinese politician who spent his career in Beijing and Shanxi province. Of Manchu people, Manchu descent, Jin worked for China's top Central Commission for Discipline Inspection, anti-corruption body ...

, who was dismissed due to corruption. On August 30, 2016, Lou was appointed acting governor of Shanxi province; he was confirmed as governor on November 28. In November 2019, Lou was appointed as the Communist Party Secretary of Shanxi. In June 2021, Lou was appointed as the Communist Party Secretary of Henan.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Lou, Yangsheng 1959 births Living people People's Republic of China politicians from Zhejiang Chinese Communist Party politicians from Zhejiang Members of the 19th Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Party Members of the 11th Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference Delegates to the 12th National People's Congress Delegates to the 10th National People's Congress Zhejiang Normal University alumni Zhejiang University alumni Deputy Communist Party secretaries of Shanxi Governors of Shanxi Politicians from Jinhua CCP committee secretaries of Henan