Su Rong (; born October 1948) is a former senior regional official and politician in China. He began his career in his native
Jilin
Jilin (; alternately romanized as Kirin or Chilin) is one of the three provinces of Northeast China. Its capital and largest city is Changchun. Jilin borders North Korea (Rasŏn, North Hamgyong, Ryanggang and Chagang) and Russia (Prim ...
, and successively served as
Chinese Communist 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 ...
of
Qinghai
Qinghai (; alternately romanized as Tsinghai, Ch'inghai), also known as Kokonor, is a landlocked province in the northwest of the People's Republic of China. It is the fourth largest province of China by area and has the third smallest po ...
,
Gansu
Gansu (, ; alternately romanized as Kansu) is a province in Northwest China. Its capital and largest city is Lanzhou, in the southeast part of the province.
The seventh-largest administrative district by area at , Gansu lies between the Tibet ...
, and
Jiangxi
Jiangxi (; ; formerly romanized as Kiangsi or Chianghsi) is a landlocked province in the east of the People's Republic of China. Its major cities include Nanchang and Jiujiang. Spanning from the banks of the Yangtze river in the north int ...
provinces. In March 2013, he became one of the vice-chairmen of the
Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference
The Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC, zh, 中国人民政治协商会议), also known as the People's PCC (, ) or simply the PCC (), is a political advisory body in the People's Republic of China and a central part of ...
(CPPCC).
In 2014, Su was subject to a probe by 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 ...
's anti-graft watchdog for "disciplinary violations", which led to criminal charges. He was sentenced to life in prison for accepting a "massive amount of bribes". He is one of the highest-ranking officials to come under investigation for graft since
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 ...
became
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 o ...
in 2012.
Life and career in Jilin
Su Rong was born 1948 in
Taonan
Taonan (), formerly Tao'an County (), is a county-level city of 100,000 in the northwest of Jilin province in Northeast China. It is under the administration of Baicheng prefecture-level city.
Administrative Divisions
There are 6 subdistricts ...
(formerly Tao'an County),
Baicheng
Baicheng () is a prefecture-level city in the northwestern part of Jilin province, People's Republic of China, bordering Inner Mongolia to the north and west and Heilongjiang to the east and northeast. At the 2010 census, 2,033,058 people l ...
prefecture, in
Northeast 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 ...
's
Jilin
Jilin (; alternately romanized as Kirin or Chilin) is one of the three provinces of Northeast China. Its capital and largest city is Changchun. Jilin borders North Korea (Rasŏn, North Hamgyong, Ryanggang and Chagang) and Russia (Prim ...
province. In 1968 he began working as an accountant in Najin Commune of Tao'an. He 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 ...
in January 1970.
In 1974, Su became the deputy Communist Party chief of Najin Commune, and later party chief. Starting in 1980 he served as deputy party chief of Tao'an County, party chief of
Fuyu County, deputy party chief and then party chief of Baicheng prefecture. In 1989 he became the party chief of
Siping prefecture-level city
A prefecture-level city () or prefectural city is an administrative division of the People's Republic of China (PRC), ranking below a province and above a county in China's administrative structure.
During the Republican era, many of China' ...
, and from 1995 until 1998 he was the party chief of
Yanbian Korean Autonomous Prefecture
Yanbian (; Chosŏn'gŭl: , ''Yeonbyeon''), officially known as the Yanbian Korean Autonomous Prefecture, is an autonomous prefecture in the east of Jilin Province, China. Yanbian is bordered to the north by Heilongjiang Province, on the west by ...
. Starting in 1996 he concurrently served as deputy party chief of Jilin province, a position he held until 2001. From 1994 to 1997 he studied at
Jilin University
Jilin University (JLU; ; often abbreviated JLU or ) is a leading national research university located in Changchun, China. It is under the direct jurisdiction of China's Ministry of Education. It is a Chinese Ministry of Education Class A Doub ...
on a part-time basis, receiving a master's degree in economics.
[
]
Career in Qinghai, Gansu, and Jiangxi
In 2001, Su Rong was transferred to Qinghai
Qinghai (; alternately romanized as Tsinghai, Ch'inghai), also known as Kokonor, is a landlocked province in the northwest of the People's Republic of China. It is the fourth largest province of China by area and has the third smallest po ...
province in Northwest China
Northwest China () is a statistical region of China which includes the autonomous regions of Xinjiang and Ningxia and the provinces of Shaanxi, Gansu and Qinghai. It has an area of 3,107,900 km2.
The region is characterized by a (semi-)arid con ...
, serving as its Communist Party Chief, the top official of the province. He also became the chairman of Qinghai Provincial People's Congress in 2002.[
In 2003, he became the Communist Party Chief of the neighbouring ]Gansu
Gansu (, ; alternately romanized as Kansu) is a province in Northwest China. Its capital and largest city is Lanzhou, in the southeast part of the province.
The seventh-largest administrative district by area at , Gansu lies between the Tibet ...
province, and concurrently served as chairman of Gansu Provincial People's Congress in 2004.[
From 2006 to 2007, Su was the vice 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 ...
in Beijing, which is a minister-level position.[
In 2007, he became the Communist Party Chief of ]Jiangxi
Jiangxi (; ; formerly romanized as Kiangsi or Chianghsi) is a landlocked province in the east of the People's Republic of China. Its major cities include Nanchang and Jiujiang. Spanning from the banks of the Yangtze river in the north int ...
province in East China
East China () is a geographical and a loosely defined cultural region that covers the eastern coastal area of China.
A concept abolished in 1978, for economical purposes the region was defined from 1949 to 1961 by the Chinese Central Governme ...
, succeeding Meng Jianzhu. The next year he also became chairman of Jiangxi Provincial People's Congress. He held both positions until 2013.[
He was an alternate member of the 14th and the 15th ]Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Party
The Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Party, officially the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China, is a political body that comprises the top leaders of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). It is currently composed of 205 fu ...
, and a full member of the 16th
16 (sixteen) is the natural number following 15 and preceding 17. 16 is a composite number, and a square number, being 42 = 4 × 4. It is the smallest number with exactly five divisors, its proper divisors being , , and .
In English speech, ...
and the 17th Central Committees.[
]
CPPCC and downfall
In March 2013, Su became one of the 23 vice-chairmen of the 12th Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference
The Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC, zh, 中国人民政治协商会议), also known as the People's PCC (, ) or simply the PCC (), is a political advisory body in the People's Republic of China and a central part of ...
(CPPCC). The position enjoyed the official ranking as a "national leader". However, in June 2014, the Communist Party's anti-graft watchdog announced that he was being probed for "disciplinary violations", which typically indicate corruption. At the time of the announcement, he was the highest-ranking official, and only "national leader"-class figure, to come under investigation for graft since Xi Jinping became General Secretary of the Chinese Communist Party in 2012.[ Several other senior officials of Jiangxi province had already been under investigation, including vice governors Yao Mugen and Zhao Zhiyong, and vice-chairman of the provincial congress, ]Chen Anzhong
Chen Anzhong (; born January 1954) is a former Chinese politician who served in a variety of positions in Jiangxi province. In 2015, he was sentenced to twelve years in prison for corruption.
Biography
Chen was born in Ningyuan County, Hunan in ...
.[ His CPPCC colleague and former Hu Jintao aide, CPPCC Vice-Chairman ]Ling Jihua
Ling Jihua (; born 22 October 1956) is a former Chinese politician and one of the principal political advisers of former leader Hu Jintao. Ling was best known for his tenure as chief of the General Office of the Chinese Communist Party between ...
, was also detained for corruption in December 2014.
The results of the CCDI investigation into Su Rong was announced February 16, 2015. It concluded that Su Rong "violated organizational discipline, unilaterally upstaged decisions made by consensus ..used his position of power to seek gain for others during the promotion process of officials and the operations of businesses, took a massive amount of bribes." It also said that he was responsible for wasting government resources and had "leading responsibility" for problems with corruption in Jiangxi province which festered under his watch. In the past, the CCDI's investigation announcements into officials have largely followed a bland and oft-repeated formula. In Su's case, however, the CCDI used many new phrases to describe the details of his alleged wrongdoing. He was said to have "shown blatant disregard about party political rules," "liberally sold offices for cash," "severely poisoned the local political environment," "encouraged and condoned his relatives to use their relationship to him to influence political affairs." His offenses were "of an especially egregious nature and caused extraordinarily bad influence." Su was expelled from the Chinese Communist Party, and indicted on charges of bribery and abuse of power, and his case moved to judicial authorities for prosecution.
On January 23, 2017, Su Rong was sentenced to life in prison for bribery; court documents showed that he took bribes worth some 116 million yuan ($17 million) between 2002 and 2014.
Personal life
Su married a woman surnamed Ren (), with whom he had three children, a son Su Tiezhi () and two daughters Su Xiaobo () and Su Xiaojuan (). Ren died of cancer
Cancer is a group of diseases involving abnormal cell growth with the potential to invade or spread to other parts of the body. These contrast with benign tumors, which do not spread. Possible signs and symptoms include a lump, abnormal b ...
in 1993. His son-in-law named , former vice mayor of Zhangjiajie
Zhangjiajie (), also known in Tujia language as ''Zhangx jif avlar'' /dzaŋ˩ ji˥ a˩.la˥/, is a prefecture-level city in the northwestern part of Hunan Province, China. It comprises the district of Yongding, Wulingyuan and counties of Cili a ...
, was sacked for graft in November 2015. In 1994, he married Yu Lifang (), who initially worked in a bank. Yu's elder brother Yu Ping'an () who involved in the case committed suicide by swallowing sleeping pills in March 2015.
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Su, Rong
1948 births
Living people
People from Baicheng
People's Republic of China politicians from Jilin
Political office-holders in Gansu
Political office-holders in Jiangxi
Political office-holders in Jilin
Political office-holders in Qinghai
Vice Chairpersons of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference
Expelled members of the Chinese Communist Party
Jilin University alumni
Chinese politicians convicted of corruption