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Li Zhanshu (; born August 30, 1950) is a Chinese politician, and the current outgoing
chairman of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress The chairman of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress is the presiding officer of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress (NPCSC), which is the permanent body of the National People's Congress, highest orga ...
, the Chinese
Speaker Speaker may refer to: Society and politics * Speaker (politics), the presiding officer in a legislative assembly * Public speaker, one who gives a speech or lecture * A person producing speech: the producer of a given utterance, especially: ** In ...
. He was the third-ranking member of the
Politburo Standing Committee of the Chinese Communist Party 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 ...
, China's top decision-making body, between 2017 and 2022. Li began his political career in rural regions of his native
Hebei Hebei or , (; alternately Hopeh) is a northern province of China. Hebei is China's sixth most populous province, with over 75 million people. Shijiazhuang is the capital city. The province is 96% Han Chinese, 3% Manchu, 0.8% Hui, and ...
province, rising through the ranks as the Communist Party Secretary of
Xi'an Xi'an ( , ; ; Chinese: ), frequently spelled as Xian and also known by other names, is the capital of Shaanxi Province. A sub-provincial city on the Guanzhong Plain, the city is the third most populous city in Western China, after Chongqi ...
, Governor of
Heilongjiang Heilongjiang () Postal romanization, formerly romanized as Heilungkiang, is a Provinces of China, province in northeast China. The standard one-character abbreviation for the province is (). It was formerly romanized as "Heilungkiang". It is th ...
province, and the Party Secretary of
Guizhou Guizhou (; Postal romanization, formerly Kweichow) is a landlocked Provinces of China, province in the Southwest China, southwest region of the China, People's Republic of China. Its capital and largest city is Guiyang, in the center of the pr ...
province. In 2012, he became chief of the
General Office of the Chinese Communist Party The General Office of the Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Party, often referred to as the Central Office (), is an office directly under the Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Party in charge of providing support for the C ...
. Following the
18th Party Congress The 18th National Congress of the Chinese Communist Party was held November 8-15, 2012 at the Great Hall of the People. It was preceded by the 17th National Congress of the Chinese Communist Party. Due to term and age limits restrictions, seven of ...
, Li became one of the top advisors to party General 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, ...
. He is regarded by the media as a senior member of "Xi Jinping Clique", one of the main political factions within the Chinese Communist Party.


Early career

Li was born in Pingshan County, Hebei province on August 30, 1950. He became a member of the
Chinese Communist Party 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 Ci ...
(CCP) in 1975. He started his career as an ordinary functionary in the capital of his home province,
Shijiazhuang Shijiazhuang (; ; Mandarin: ), formerly known as Shimen and romanized as Shihkiachwang, is the capital and most populous city of China’s North China's Hebei Province. Administratively a prefecture-level city, it is about southwest of Beijin ...
, working as an office worker for the Shijiazhuang commercial bureau and the Shijiazhuang party committee. In 1980, Li studied
night school A night school is an adult learning school that holds classes in the evening or at night to accommodate people who work during the day. A community college or university may hold night school classes that admit undergraduates. Italy The Scuola ...
at
Hebei Normal University Hebei Normal University () is a public research university in Shijiazhuang, Hebei province, China. It is a provincial key university with more than 100 years history, and is supported by both Hebei Province and Education Department of China. His ...
. After graduating, he was promoted to Party Secretary of Wuji County (at around the same time, the party chief of neighbouring
Zhengding County Zhengding (), originally Zhending (), is a county in southwestern Hebei Province, North China, located approximately south of Beijing. It is under the administration of the prefecture-level city of Shijiazhuang, the capital of the province, and h ...
was
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, ...
, 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 lead ...
). For the next decade, Li took on progressively senior roles in Hebei province, including deputy party chief and Commissioner of Shijiazhuang prefecture (not equivalent to mayor), head of the provincial Communist Youth League organization, Commissioner of Chengde prefecture, member of the Party Standing Committee of Hebei and Secretary-General of the provincial party committee. In a leaked US Diplomatic cable from 2008, Li told US diplomats that he had the "unwelcome distinction" of leading the first CYL delegation to the US following the
1989 Tiananmen Square protests The Tiananmen Square protests, known in Chinese as the June Fourth Incident (), were student-led demonstrations held in Tiananmen Square, Beijing during 1989. In what is known as the Tiananmen Square Massacre, or in Chinese the June Fourth ...
.


Regional leadership

In 1998, Li was transferred to Shaanxi province to serve on its party leadership council and become the head of its provincial Organization Department. Beginning in January 2002, Li became the Party Secretary of Xi'an. In May, he concurrently took on the role of deputy party chief of Shaanxi province. During his term in Xi'an, Li was known to have set the goal for Xi'an to become the "best city in the western interior". In December 2003, Li became Deputy Party Secretary of Heilongjiang, and assumed the post of Vice Governor about a year later. At the time, outside observers classified Li as a member of the ''
Tuanpai The Tuanpai (), or Youth League Faction, is a term used by political observers and analysts to describe an informal political faction in the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), which includes cadres and government officials who originated from the Co ...
'', i.e., officials with a background in the Communist Youth League. On December 25, 2007, then Governor Zhang Zuoji resigned, and Li took over as acting Governor, confirmed in January 2008. In August 2010, Li became the Party Secretary of
Guizhou Guizhou (; Postal romanization, formerly Kweichow) is a landlocked Provinces of China, province in the Southwest China, southwest region of the China, People's Republic of China. Its capital and largest city is Guiyang, in the center of the pr ...
province, taking on his first role in the top office of a province. At the time, Li was not yet a full member of the Central Committee; it was considered very rare for someone to hold office as a provincial party chief without a full seat on the Central Committee.


General Office

In July 2012, Li was transferred to Beijing to serve as the executive deputy director of the
General Office of the Chinese Communist Party The General Office of the Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Party, often referred to as the Central Office (), is an office directly under the Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Party in charge of providing support for the C ...
, being groomed to replace Ling Jihua. He assumed office as Director of the General Office two months later. Three months later, Li was also named Secretary of the Work Committee for Organs Directly Reporting to the Central Committee (). Regarded as a "rising star", Li was elected to the Politburo of the Chinese Communist Party at the 18th Party Congress held in November 2012, which was unusual for a General Office Chief (Ling Jihua, for example, was not a member of the Politburo), signalling that Li would hold significant clout under Xi Jinping's
administration Administration may refer to: Management of organizations * Management, the act of directing people towards accomplishing a goal ** Administrative Assistant, traditionally known as a Secretary, or also known as an administrative officer, admini ...
. Additionally, as was customary of the general office chief, Li was also named a Secretary of the Central Secretariat. In 2013, Li was also named chief of the General Office of the newly formed National Security Commission. Li has played a major role in facilitating a strong relationship between China and Russia, and is the first General Office chief in post-Mao China to have played such an active role in foreign affairs. For example, in 2015 Li was sent as a "special envoy" of Xi Jinping to meet with
Vladimir Putin Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin; (born 7 October 1952) is a Russian politician and former intelligence officer who holds the office of president of Russia. Putin has served continuously as president or prime minister since 1999: as prime min ...
in Moscow. During the 2015 Moscow Victory Day Parade held in Moscow, Li was a member of the Chinese delegation. Li was known to have accompanied Xi on the
leader Leadership, both as a research area and as a practical skill, encompasses the ability of an individual, group or organization to "lead", influence or guide other individuals, teams, or entire organizations. The word "leadership" often gets v ...
's various meetings with foreign guests, including on Xi's 2015 state visit to the United States. In September 2022, during a meeting with senior Russian figures, Li pledged China's "understanding and full support" in Russia's position on the issue of the
2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine On 24 February 2022, in a major escalation of the Russo-Ukrainian War, which began in 2014. The invasion has resulted in tens of thousands of deaths on both sides. It has caused Europe's largest refugee crisis since World War II. A ...
. He said, "given the circumstances, Russia has taken necessary measures. China understands, and we are coordinating on various aspects." He went on to directly blame
the United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...
and
NATO The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO, ; french: Organisation du traité de l'Atlantique nord, ), also called the North Atlantic Alliance, is an intergovernmental military alliance between 30 member states – 28 European and two N ...
for "expanding NATO directly on Russia's doorstep, threatening Russia's national security and the lives of Russian citizens." Li, seen as one of the most influential members of Xi Jinping's inner circle, was considered a "
dark horse A dark horse is a previously lesser-known person or thing that emerges to prominence in a situation, especially in a competition involving multiple rivals, or a contestant that on paper should be unlikely to succeed but yet still might. Origin Th ...
" candidate for the 19th
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 ...
, China's top decision-making body which took office in 2017. Li was an alternate member of the 16th and 17th Central Committees of the Chinese Communist Party and was a full member of the 18th Central Committee.


Standing Committee

Li was chosen to be a member of the 19th
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 ...
, China's top decision-making body, at the 1st Plenary Session 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 ...
on 25 October 2017. On March 17, 2018, Li was elected as the
Chairman of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress The chairman of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress is the presiding officer of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress (NPCSC), which is the permanent body of the National People's Congress, highest orga ...
. On September 8, 2018, Li acted as special representative to General Secretary Xi Jinping on a visit to North Korea to participate in the 70th anniversary celebrations of the founding of the
Democratic People's Republic of Korea North Korea, officially the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK), is a country in East Asia. It constitutes the northern half of the Korean Peninsula and shares borders with China and Russia to the north, at the Yalu (Amnok) and T ...
. Regarding his work, Li claims to abide by a "three-nos" principle: they are: "no messing around with other people, no playing games, no loafing on the job." In November 2020, following the expulsion of 4 pro-democracy lawmakers in the Hong Kong Legislative Council, Li defended the expulsion, arguing that the decision was both "necessary" and "appropriate." On October 22, 2022, at the closing ceremony of the 20th National Congress of the CCP, Li was seen to prevent
Hu Jintao Hu Jintao (born 21 December 1942) is a Chinese politician who served as the 16–17th general secretary of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) from 2002 to 2012, the 6th president of the People's Republic of China (PRC) from 2003 to 2013, and ...
from reading the documents on Hu's desk. Their skirmish eventually led to Hu Jintao's abrupt removal from the ceremony by Kong Shaoxun, Deputy Director of the General Office of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China, assisted by another staff member. Witnessing the removal, Li was visibly uneasy, wiping his eyes with a handkerchief, and trying to leave his seat to support or comfort Hu, only to be stopped by
Wang Huning Wang Huning (; born 6 October 1955) is a Chinese politician and one of the top leaders of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). He has been a leading political theorist and ideologist in the country since the 1990s. He has been a member of the CCP' ...
sitting to the left of him. The removal process was closely monitored by Xi Jinping, who sat to Hu's right and summoned Kong and the staff.


Family

Li's great-uncle (; 1908–1967) served as Vice Governor of
Shandong Shandong ( , ; ; Chinese postal romanization, alternately romanized as Shantung) is a coastal Provinces of China, province of the China, People's Republic of China and is part of the East China region. Shandong has played a major role in His ...
province. Li's wife, Wang Jinfeng (), was born on October 30, 1953.


Li Qianxin

Li's eldest daughter, Li Qianxin (; born 20 June 1982), also known as Naomi Li, has been reported by Chinese-language media as being active in Hong Kong, and is one of the Vice-Chairs of the Hua Jing Society, a youth organization promoting mainland-Hong Kong cooperation. Li Qianxin reportedly bought a townhouse in Hong Kong's Stanley Beach for $15 million in 2013. According to a New York Times investigation, Li Qianxin bought a 4-story property at 6 Stanley Beach Road in the Southern District of
Hong Kong Island Hong Kong Island is an island in the southern part of Hong Kong. Known colloquially and on road signs simply as Hong Kong, the island has a population of 1,289,500 and its population density is 16,390/km2, . The island had a population of a ...
in 2013 for US$15 million through Century Joy Holdings Ltd., a company registered in Hong Kong with Li Qianxin as the sole director, and incorporated in the
British Virgin Islands ) , anthem = "God Save the King" , song_type = Territorial song , song = "Oh, Beautiful Virgin Islands" , image_map = File:British Virgin Islands on the globe (Americas centered).svg , map_caption = , mapsize = 290px , image_map2 = Brit ...
. In October 2019, when ''
The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...
'' contacted her regarding a scandal involving Deutsche Bank and their illicit hiring practices, she dissolved Century Joy Holdings Ltd. within a matter of hours. Li Qianxin was found to have pushed Deutsche Bank to hire her younger sister, who was deemed unqualified for the bank's corporate communications team, but received the job offer anyway. Her husband, Chua Hwa Por (; born 17 May 1985), was also part of the report. Chua owned a racehorse called Limitless, and also took over a company named Tai United in early 2017, when he was appointed as chairman. Under his supervision, Tai United bought a large share in the Peninsula Hotel, as well as the entire 79th floor of a Hong Kong skyscraper (reported earlier by SCMP to be at
The Center The Center () is the fifth tallest skyscraper in Hong Kong, after International Commerce Centre, Two International Finance Centre (88 storeys), Central Plaza and Bank of China Tower. With a height of , it comprises 73 storeys. The center is ...
). Chua stepped down from Tai United shortly afterwards in July 2017, when ''Next Magazine'' reported on the purchases and Chua's potential ties to Li Qianxin's father, Li Zhanshu. In January 2018, Chua then sold the majority of his Tai United shares. Together, Li Qianxin and Chua jointly own another company, named Chua & Li Membership. Li Qianxin and Chua both had listed the 6 Stanley Beach Road unit as their residence until early 2020, when Li Qianxin changed her address to another apartment Chua owns in Hong Kong, located on the 60th floor of a building. Also according to the investigation, Li Qianxin joined networks such as the Hua Jing Society in Hong Kong, a group that networks princelings and tycoons.


Li Duoxi

Li's youngest daughter, Li Duoxi (; born 25 May 1987), works at
Deutsche Bank Deutsche Bank AG (), sometimes referred to simply as Deutsche, is a German multinational investment bank and financial services company headquartered in Frankfurt, Germany, and dual-listed on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange and the New York St ...
.


See also

*
Xi Jinping Administration The Xi Jinping Administration of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), officially called the "CCP Central Committee with Comrade Xi Jinping as General Secretary" () between 2012 and 2016, and "CCP Central Committee with Comrade Xi Jinping at its ...
*
General Office of the Chinese Communist Party The General Office of the Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Party, often referred to as the Central Office (), is an office directly under the Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Party in charge of providing support for the C ...
* National Security Commission of the Chinese Communist Party


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Li, Zhanshu 1950 births Living people Governors of Heilongjiang Politicians from Shijiazhuang Chairmen of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress People's Republic of China politicians from Hebei Chinese Communist Party politicians from Hebei Political office-holders in Guizhou Members of the Secretariat of the Chinese Communist Party Hebei Normal University alumni Members of the 19th Politburo Standing Committee of the Chinese Communist Party Members of the 18th Politburo of the Chinese Communist Party Communist Party secretaries of Xi'an Deputy Communist Party secretaries of Shaanxi