Wang Lixia (; mn, ; born June 1964) is a Chinese politician of Mongol heritage, currently serving as deputy party chief, party branch secretary and chairwoman of the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region People's Government (equivalent of a provincial governor). In 2019, she was the only female party chief of a provincial-level capital in China. Prior to that, she served as party chief of

Hohhot Hohhot,; abbreviated zh, c=呼市, p=Hūshì, labels=no formerly known as Kweisui, is the capital of Inner Mongolia in the north of the People's Republic of China, serving as the region's administrative, economic and cultural center.''The Ne ...

, the capital of the

Inner Mongolia Inner Mongolia, officially the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, is an autonomous region of the People's Republic of China. Its border includes most of the length of China's border with the country of Mongolia. Inner Mongolia also accounts for a ...

Autonomous Region, and director of the United Front Department of the CPC Inner Mongolia Committee from 2016 to 2019 and vice governor of

Shaanxi Shaanxi (alternatively Shensi, see #Name, § Name) is a landlocked Provinces of China, province of China. Officially part of Northwest China, it borders the province-level divisions of Shanxi (NE, E), Henan (E), Hubei (SE), Chongqing (S), Sichu ...

from 2013 to 2016.

Early life and education

An ethnic Mongol, Wang was born in

Jianping County Jianping () is a county in the west of Liaoning province, China, bordering Inner Mongolia to the north, west, and northeast. It is under the administration of Chaoyang City, the urban centre of which is more than to the east. The population is ap ...

Liaoning Liaoning () is a coastal province in Northeast China that is the smallest, southernmost, and most populous province in the region. With its capital at Shenyang, it is located on the northern shore of the Yellow Sea, and is the northernmost ...

, in June 1964. She was accepted to Liaoning University in October 1981. Then she studied, then taught, at Shaanxi Institute of Finance and Economics (now College of Economics and Finance, Xi'an Jiaotong University). She entered the workforce in September 1985, and joined the

Communist Party of China 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 Civil ...

in December 1992. In July 2000, she earned her Ph.D. in Economics from

Xiamen University Xiamen University (; Southern Min: ''Ē-mn̂g-toā-o̍h''), colloquially known as Xia Da (; Southern Min: ''Hā-tāi''), is a national public research university in Xiamen, Fujian, China. Founded in 1921 by Tan Kah Kee, a Chinese patriotic exp ...

Political career

Wang began her political career in July 2000, when she was appointed deputy director of Shaanxi Provincial Statistical Bureau, and five years later promoted to the Director position. In January 2011, she was named acting mayor and deputy party chief of

Tongchuan Tongchuan () is a prefecture-level city located in central Shaanxi province, People's Republic of China on the southern fringe of the Loess Plateau that defines the northern half of the province (Shanbei) and the northern reaches of the Guanzhon ...

, a

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' ...

rich in coal. She was installed as mayor in April of that year. In January 2013 she was promoted to become vice-governor of Shaanxi, where she was responsible for commerce, health and family planning, opening up and Taiwan affairs. In October 2016, Wang was transferred to north China's Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, where she was appointed director of the United Front Department of the CPC Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region Committee and a member of the regional Standing Committee of the party. On August 31, 2019, she was appointed Communist Party Secretary of the capital

, breaking precedent and ending a long line of party chiefs who were native to Inner Mongolia. The post was vacated a few months earlier when her predecessor Yun Guangzhong was placed under investigation for corruption. In July 2021, she was appointed deputy party chief and party branch secretary of Inner Mongolia. On August 5, she was appointed chairwoman of the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region People's Government after

Bu Xiaolin Bu Xiaolin (; mn, ; born August 1958) is a Chinese politician of Mongol descent. She had served as chairwoman of the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region People's Government (equivalent of a provincial governor) since March 2016. She is the daugh ...

resigned. Wang was a delegate to the

12th National People's Congress The 12th National People's Congress was elected in national congressional conferences from October 2012 to February 2013 and was in session from 2013 to 2018. It succeeded the 11th National People's Congress. It held five plenary sessions in ...

and is a member of the 13th National Committee 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 ...

. She is an alternate member of the 19th

CPC Central Committee 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 ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Wang, Lixia 1964 births Living people Liaoning University alumni Xi'an Jiaotong University alumni Xiamen University alumni People's Republic of China politicians from Liaoning Chinese Communist Party politicians from Liaoning Alternate members of the 19th Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Party Members of the 20th Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Party Chinese women in politics Political office-holders in Shaanxi Chinese people of Mongolian descent