Zhang Guoqing (; born August 1964) is a Chinese politician and former corporate executive and CPC Secretary of Liaoning and a member of the

Politburo of the Chinese Communist Party The Politburo of the Chinese Communist Party, formally known as the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China Central Committee and known as the Central Bureau before 1927, is the decision-making body of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). ...

. Previously, he served as the mayor of

Tianjin Tianjin (; ; Mandarin: ), alternately romanized as Tientsin (), is a municipality and a coastal metropolis in Northern China on the shore of the Bohai Sea. It is one of the nine national central cities in Mainland China, with a total popul ...

, one of the four

direct-controlled municipalities A direct-controlled municipality is the highest level classification for cities used by unitary states, with status equal to that of the provinces in the respective countries. A direct-controlled municipality is similar to, but not the same as, a ...

of China. An economics doctorate from

Tsinghua University Tsinghua University (; abbreviation, abbr. THU) is a National university, national Public university, public research university in Beijing, China. The university is funded by the Ministry of Education of the People's Republic of China, Minis ...

, Zhang had previously served as the mayor of

Chongqing Chongqing ( or ; ; Sichuanese dialects, Sichuanese pronunciation: , Standard Mandarin pronunciation: ), Postal Romanization, alternately romanized as Chungking (), is a Direct-administered municipalities of China, municipality in Southwes ...

, the chief executive of North Industries, a military contractor.

Biography

Zhang was born in 1964 in the town of Lingshan,

Luoshan County Luoshan County (; postal: Loshan) is a county in the southeast of Henan province, China, bordering Hubei Hubei (; ; alternately Hupeh) is a landlocked province of the People's Republic of China, and is part of the Central China region. ...

, Henan province. He studied electrical engineering at the Changchun Institute of Optical Mechanics (now

Changchun University of Science and Technology Changchun University of Science and Technology () is a key university in Changchun, Jilin, China, previously known as Changchun Institute of Optics and Fine Mechanics (). It was founded by Wang Daheng in 1958. After half a century's developmen ...

) and graduated in 1985. After graduating, he pursued a master's degree from the

Nanjing University of Science and Technology The Nanjing University of Science and Technology (), colloquially NJUST (), is one of the National Key Universities under the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology of China. It is a science-oriented university located in Xuanwu Distri ...

in international trade. Zhang then worked at

Norinco China North Industries Group Corporation Limited, doing business internationally as Norinco Group (North Industries Corporation), and known within China as China Ordnance Industries Group Corporation Limited (), is a Chinese state-owned defense ...

, a military supplier. He began work as a project manager, then worked in the company's operations in the Middle East, including a stint in the company's office in

Tehran Tehran (; fa, تهران ) is the largest city in Tehran Province and the capital of Iran. With a population of around 9 million in the city and around 16 million in the larger metropolitan area of Greater Tehran, Tehran is the most popul ...

. He was promoted to Vice President in 1996, and by 1998, he had become the

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 ...

of the company, first-in-charge. He also became Chairman of the Board of China Wanbao Engineering Ltd. In 1999, Zhang began work for the China North Industries Group Corporation as a Vice-President. By April 2004 he was promoted to chief executive of North Industries. During this time he also earned a doctorate in economics from

. Between September and November 2001 he took part in an executive management course at

Harvard Business School Harvard Business School (HBS) is the graduate business school of Harvard University, a private research university in Boston, Massachusetts. It is consistently ranked among the top business schools in the world and offers a large full-time MBA p ...

. In 2007, Zhang was named an alternate member of the

17th Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Party The 17th Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Party was elected by the 17th Congress on 21 October 2007, and sat until the 18th National Congress in 2012. The 17th CC is composed of full members and alternate members. It was followed by the ...

, and was one of the youngest members with a seat on the body (he was only 42 at the time). By 2012, China North Industries had secured a place in the

Fortune Global 500 The ''Fortune'' Global 500, also known as Global 500, is an annual ranking of the top 500 corporations worldwide as measured by revenue. The list is compiled and published annually by ''Fortune'' magazine. Methodology Until 1989, it listed onl ...

. In 2012, he became a full member of the 18th Central Committee. In April 2013, Zhang took on a political office for the first time in his life, and was named deputy party chief of

; three months later he also took on the role of president of the Chongqing party school, which is customary for deputy party chiefs of a jurisdiction. Along with

Ma Xingrui Ma Xingrui (; born October 1959) is a Chinese politician and aerospace engineer who is the Communist Party Secretary of Xinjiang. Prior to that, he had served as the Vice Minister of Industry and Information Technology, Head of the Political an ...

, Zhang was the only provincial-level deputy party chief with a full seat on the 18th Central Committee. In December 2016, Zhang was appointed the acting mayor of Chongqing. In December 2017, Zhang was appointed as the CPC Deputy Secretary of

. Later, he was appointed as Mayor in January 2018. On September 1, 2020, Zhang was appointed as the CPC Secretary of

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 ...

. Zhang is seen as a promising candidate for the " 6th generation of Chinese leadership". Compared to his contemporaries, Zhang's background is unusual in that much of his career was spent as a corporate executive rather than in politics.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Zhang, Guoqing 1964 births Living people People from Xinyang Changchun University of Science and Technology alumni Nanjing University of Science and Technology alumni Mayors of Tianjin Mayors of Chongqing People's Republic of China politicians from Henan Chinese Communist Party politicians from Henan Harvard Business School alumni Tsinghua University alumni Alternate members of the 17th Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Party Members of the 18th Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Party Members of the 19th Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Party Members of the 20th Politburo of the Chinese Communist Party