Tuo Zhen (; born 9 September 1959) is a Chinese official, serving the Chief Editor and President of the ''

People's Daily The ''People's Daily'' () is the official newspaper of the Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). The newspaper provides direct information on the policies and viewpoints of the CCP. In addition to its main Chinese-language ...

'', an official newspaper of the CPC since April 2018. From July 2015 to March 2018 he as the deputy head of the

Propaganda Department of the Communist Party of China The Publicity Department of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China, also known as the Propaganda Department or Central Propaganda Department, is an internal division of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) in charge of spreading C ...

. Tuo is the former provincial propaganda chief of

Guangdong Province 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) ...

, during which he was widely known for his involvement in the 2013 ''Southern Weekly'' incident. He has also served as the vice-president of the state-run

Xinhua News Agency Xinhua News Agency (English pronunciation: )J. C. Wells: Longman Pronunciation Dictionary, 3rd ed., for both British and American English, or New China News Agency, is the official state news agency of the People's Republic of China. Xinhua ...

Biography

Tuo Zhen was born in

Fangcheng County Fangcheng () is a county in the east of Nanyang City's administrative area, in the southwest of Henan Henan (; or ; ; alternatively Honan) is a landlocked province of China, in the central part of the country. Henan is often referred to as ...

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, in 1959. His family name is extremely rare. In 1978, Tuo Zhen was admitted to

Wuhan University Wuhan University (WHU; ) is a public research university in Wuhan, Hubei. The university is sponsored by the Ministry of Education. Wuhan university was founded as one of the four elite universities in the early republican period of China and i ...

, majoring in

political economics Political economy is the study of how economic systems (e.g. markets and national economies) and political systems (e.g. law, institutions, government) are linked. Widely studied phenomena within the discipline are systems such as labour mar ...

. After graduating from university in 1982, he was assigned to work as an editor for the ''

Economic Daily The ''Economic Daily'' () is a Chinese state-owned newspaper focusing on economic reports. Founded in Beijing on January 1, 1983, the newspaper is a deputy ministerial-level institution under the State Council. The newspaper is managed by the Ce ...

''. In 2005, he was promoted to chief editor. In 2011, he was transferred to become vice president of

. In May 2012, Tuo Zhen was transferred to

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) ...

province, 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 head of the Guangdong Propaganda Department. In January 2013, it is reported that under the command of Tuo Zhen, Guangdong liberal newspaper ''

Southern Weekly ''Southern Weekly'' (literally ''Southern Weekend;'' ), is a Chinese weekly newspaper based in Guangzhou, and is a sister publication of the newspaper ''Nanfang Daily''. History and profile ''Southern Weekly'', founded in 1984, has its head ...

'' was forced to add a provided commentary glorifying the Communist Party with its annual new year editorial, which was originally intended to call for proper implementation of the country's constitution. This action provoked many ''Southern Weekly'' reporters and intellectuals (include

Mao Yushi Mao Yushi (; born 14 January 1929 in Nanjing, Jiangsu) is a Chinese economist. Mao graduated from Shanghai Jiao Tong University in 1950 and was labeled a 'rightist' in 1958. In 1986, Mao was a visiting scholar at Harvard University, and in 1990 ...

, Zhang Yihe, Li Chengpeng, Zhang Sizhi,

He Weifang He Weifang (born July 17, 1960; ) is a former professor at Peking University of China and an activist striving to reform the Chinese judicial system, who has argued that the Chinese Communist Party is an unregistered and therefore an illegal orga ...

, Leung Man-tao, Cai Ziqiang, Jiang Mingxiu, etc.) to criticize Tuo and call for his position. Over the period of a few weeks, nearly a dozen drafts were circulated between editors and propaganda officials under Tuo; ultimately the final article had evolved to look nothing like the original draft. In July 2015, Tuo Zhen was promoted to deputy head of the

, serving as an assistant to

Liu Qibao Liu Qibao (; born January 1953) is a Chinese politician. He was a member of the 18th Politburo of the Chinese Communist Party, a Secretary of the Secretariat of the Chinese Communist Party, as well as the head of the Propaganda Department of th ...

. In April 2018, Tuo was appointed as the Chief Editor of the ''

'', an official newspaper of the CPC. In November 2020, he was appointed President of the ''People's Daily'', replacing Li Baoshan.

Works

* * * * * * * *

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Tuo, Zhen 1959 births Writers from Nanyang, Henan People's Republic of China journalists People's Republic of China politicians from Henan Living people Politicians from Nanyang, Henan Wuhan University alumni Chinese Communist Party politicians from Henan Xinhua News Agency people People's Daily people

Biography

See also

Works

References