Zhao Leji
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Zhao Leji (; born 8 March 1957) is a senior Chinese leader of 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 ...
(CCP), who is the third-ranking member of the CCP Politburo Standing Committee, the party's top decision-making body. In his earlier political career, he served as the Communist Party Secretary 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 ...
, the party secretary 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 ...
, and the head of the Organization Department of the CCP. He entered the Politburo in 2012 and was promoted to the Politburo Standing Committee five years later. Between 2017 and 2022, he was the
secretary of the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection Secretary of the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection of the Communist Party of China is the head of the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection. The Secretary is a very important political position, serving as one of the top lea ...
, the party's top anti-corruption body.


Biography


Early life

Zhao Leji was born in
Xining Xining (; ), alternatively known as Sining, is the capital of Qinghai province in western China and the largest city on the Tibetan Plateau. The city was a commercial hub along the Northern Silk Road's Hexi Corridor for over 2000 years, and wa ...
, Qinghai province. His parents were from
Xi'an Xi'an ( , ; ; Chinese: ), frequently spelled as Xian and also known by #Name, other names, is the list of capitals in China, capital of Shaanxi, Shaanxi Province. A Sub-provincial division#Sub-provincial municipalities, sub-provincial city o ...
, Shaanxi province. The family moved to Qinghai as part of the aid the frontiers programs of the Mao years. During the later years of the Cultural Revolution, Zhao went to the countryside to perform manual labour on a commune. After working there for about a year, Zhao returned to the city to become a communications assistant at the Commerce Department of Qinghai province. Zhao joined the CCP in 1975 and entered
Peking University Peking University (PKU; ) is a public research university in Beijing, China. The university is funded by the Ministry of Education. Peking University was established as the Imperial University of Peking in 1898 when it received its royal charter ...
in 1977 as a '' gongnongbing'' student; he studied
philosophy Philosophy (from , ) is the systematized study of general and fundamental questions, such as those about existence, reason, knowledge, values, mind, and language. Such questions are often posed as problems to be studied or resolved. Some ...
there until January 1980. He then spent three years teaching at the Qinghai School of Commerce and overseeing the
Communist Youth League The Communist Youth League of China (CYLC), also known as the Young Communist League of China or simply the Communist Youth League (CYL), is a youth movement of the People's Republic of China for youth between the ages of 14 and 28, run by the ...
wing of the provincial department of commerce. In 1985, he was transferred to a Qinghai-based metal products company to be its party secretary. In April 1986, he became deputy head of the provincial department of commerce.


Qinghai

Zhao entered the provincial government in 1993, becoming part of the inner circle of then Qinghai party secretary
Yin Kesheng Yin Kesheng (; March 1932 – 19 May 2011) was a Chinese politician who served as Communist Party Secretary of Qinghai from 1985 to 1997. He was a member of the 12th, 13th and 14th Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Party. He was a del ...
. He was then elevated to vice-governor, then CCP Secretary of his hometown
Xining Xining (; ), alternatively known as Sining, is the capital of Qinghai province in western China and the largest city on the Tibetan Plateau. The city was a commercial hub along the Northern Silk Road's Hexi Corridor for over 2000 years, and wa ...
. He acceded to the post of governor in 1999 at age 42, becoming the youngest provincial governor in the country at the time. Having 'jumped' several levels in a short period of time, Zhao's upward trajectory began to slow by the turn of the century. Zhao became party secretary of Qinghai in 2003 after having spent nearly five years in the Governor's office. Part of his inability to move to a more economically prosperous and more politically visible province was attributed to his Shaanxi background. He spoke in Shaanxi dialect even at government meetings. Zhao's tenure in Qinghai was marked by rapid economic growth, and a tripling of the province's GDP from the time he took office as Governor to when he left as party secretary in 2007. It was said that Zhao took a relatively soft approach on ethnic minority issues and took on environmentally conscious investment projects. His achievements in Qinghai were lauded by the party's central leadership.


Shaanxi

In 2007, Zhao was transferred to become party secretary in his parents' home province 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 ...
, having taken on the top jobs in both his 'native' province and the province of his birth, breaking an unspoken rule in the Communist Party that party secretaries should never hail from the province they are native to. This was seen as an indication of the trust shown to Zhao by the central leadership. In 2008, Shaanxi's GDP growth figures hit 15%, becoming one of only two provincial-level divisions to set sights on GDP growth rates of over 13%. In Shaanxi, Zhao oversaw the expansion and development of the GuanZhong-TianShui(关中-天水) economic belt. After the 18th National Congress of the CCP in November 2012, he was appointed member of the Politburo and head of the Organization Department of the CCP. Zhao was a member of the 16th and 17th
Central Committee Central committee is the common designation of a standing administrative body of Communist party, communist parties, analogous to a board of directors, of both ruling and nonruling parties of former and existing socialist states. In such party org ...
and the 18th Politburo of the CCP.


Politburo Standing Committee

Zhao was chosen to be a member of the 19th Politburo Standing Committee, China's top decision-making body, at the 1st Plenary Session of the 19th Central Committee of the CCP on 25 October 2017. In the same Session, he succeeded
Wang Qishan Wang Qishan (; ; born 19 July 1948) is a Chinese politician, and the current Vice President of the People's Republic of China. Wang is one of the leading figures behind China's foreign affairs, along with President Xi Jinping and Premier Li Ke ...
to become the
Secretary of the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection Secretary of the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection of the Communist Party of China is the head of the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection. The Secretary is a very important political position, serving as one of the top lea ...
, the party's highest internal-control institution that has been noted for executing Xi's anti-corruption campaign. According to ''
The Wall Street Journal ''The Wall Street Journal'' is an American business-focused, international daily newspaper based in New York City, with international editions also available in Chinese and Japanese. The ''Journal'', along with its Asian editions, is published ...
'', Zhao "has been taking a largely hands-off approach during his time in office and barely involved in making decisions on investigations". Following the first plenary session of the 20th CPC Central Committee, Zhao was reappointed to 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 ...
.


Notes


References


External links


Profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Zhao, Leji 1957 births Living people Governors of Qinghai Chinese Communist Party politicians from Qinghai People from Xining People's Republic of China politicians from Qinghai Political office-holders in Shaanxi Members of the Secretariat of the Chinese Communist Party Secretaries of the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection Members of the 20th Politburo Standing Committee of the Chinese Communist Party Members of the 19th Politburo Standing Committee of the Chinese Communist Party Members of the 18th Politburo of the Chinese Communist Party Members of the 17th Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Party Members of the 16th Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Party