Zhou Qiang (; born 25 April 1960) is a Chinese politician who is the current Chief Justice and President of the

Supreme People's Court The Supreme People's Court of the People's Republic of China (SPC; ) is the highest court of the People's Republic of China. It hears appeals of cases from the high people's courts and is the trial court for cases about matters of national ...

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...

. Previously, he served as the

secretary A secretary, administrative professional, administrative assistant, executive assistant, administrative officer, administrative support specialist, clerk, military assistant, management assistant, office secretary, or personal assistant is a w ...

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 ...

Hunan Hunan (, ; ) is a landlocked province of the People's Republic of China, part of the South Central China region. Located in the middle reaches of the Yangtze watershed, it borders the province-level divisions of Hubei to the north, Jiangxi to ...

committee, the effective head of the province of Hunan. He served as the province's governor between 2007 and 2010. Zhou also served as the First Secretary of the

Communist Youth League of China 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 ...

between 1998 and 2006.

Life and career

Born in

Huangmei County Huangmei County () falls under the administration of Huanggang City in eastern Hubei province, People's Republic of China, and borders Anhui to the east and Jiangxi to the south across the Yangtze. It also administers Shanjia Islet () in the Yang ...

Hubei Province Hubei (; ; alternately Hupeh) is a landlocked province of the People's Republic of China, and is part of the Central China region. The name of the province means "north of the lake", referring to its position north of Dongting Lake. The prov ...

, Zhou grew up during the

Cultural Revolution The Cultural Revolution, formally known as the Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution, was a sociopolitical movement in the People's Republic of China (PRC) launched by Mao Zedong in 1966, and lasting until his death in 1976. Its stated goal ...

. In 1978, he was part of the first batch of students admitted through the

National College Entrance Examination The National College Entrance Examination (NCEE), commonly known as the gaokao (), is a standardized college entrance exam held annually in mainland China. It is required for entrance into almost all higher education institutions at the under ...

s to the

Southwest University of Political Science & Law Southwest University of Political Science and Law (SWUPL) is a national public university located in Chongqing, China. It was founded in 1953 with the original name Southwest College of Political Science and Law. It was one of the first faculti ...

. Zhou obtained a master's degree in law in 1986. He joined the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) during his studies, in 1983. In November 1995, he was elected secretary of the central secretariat of the

Chinese 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 ...

(CYL) at the 4th plenary session of the 13th CYL central committee. In June 1998, he was elevated to first secretary of the CYL central secretariat, and was re-elected in July 2003. In February 2007, Zhou was appointed governor of Hunan, after a five-month period that saw him made a standing committee member and vice secretary of the CCP Hunan committee (September 3), and then acting governor of

(September 30), appointed by the standing committee of the 10th Hunan People's Congress; he resigned as first secretary of the central secretariat of the CYL in December. He was re-elected governor of Hunan on January 24, 2008. On April 25, 2010, Zhou, then aged 50, was appointed

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 Hunan, becoming one of the youngest provincial party chiefs in the country. His rise to power is comparable to that of then-Party general secretary

Hu Jintao Hu Jintao (born 21 December 1942) is a Chinese politician who served as the 16–17th general secretary of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) from 2002 to 2012, the 6th president of the People's Republic of China (PRC) from 2003 to 2013, an ...

and then-Vice-Premier

Li Keqiang Li Keqiang (born 1 July 1955) is a Chinese politician who is the outgoing premier of China. An economist by profession, Li is head of China's executive branch as well as one of the leading figures behind China's Financial and Economic Affai ...

; all three men had background in the

. In March 2013, the NPC installed Zhou as the President of the

. Like other top Chinese leaders, Zhou spoke often of promoting the 'rule of law' and was thought to be aligned with CCP general secretary

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 ...

's stated ambition to make the court system in China fairer. Indeed, in his first few years in office, Zhou overturned several court decisions as unjust, including the wrongful execution of Nie Shubin in 1995; granted judges more independence; and restricted local officials’ influence over court rulings, although ultimately courts at all levels had to answer to the party leadership.China's Top Judge Warns Against the ‘Threat’ of Judicial Independence
, Global Voices, 20 January 2017 But in 2017, speaking at a Supreme People's Court meeting on January 14, Zhou warned the courts against the 'idea of

judicial independence Judicial independence is the concept that the judiciary should be independent from the other branches of government. That is, courts should not be subject to improper influence from the other branches of government or from private or partisan inte ...

'. He said:

hina's courtsmust firmly resist the western idea of “
constitutional democracy Liberal democracy is the combination of a liberal political ideology that operates under an indirect democratic form of government. It is characterized by elections between multiple distinct political parties, a separation of powers into di ...
”, “
separation of powers Separation of powers refers to the division of a state's government into branches, each with separate, independent powers and responsibilities, so that the powers of one branch are not in conflict with those of the other branches. The typic ...
” and “judicial independence”. These are erroneous western notions that threaten the leadership of the ruling Communist Party and defame the Chinese socialist path on the rule of law. We have to raise our flag and show our sword to struggle against such thoughts. We must not fall into the trap of western thoughts and judicial independence. We must stay firm on the Chinese socialist path on the rule of law.

This tougher line was interpreted as self-protection amid a CCP power struggle ahead of the 19th National Congress of the Chinese Communist Party. Zhou is currently a member of the 19th Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Party. He was previously a 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, ...

, 17th and 18th Central Committees.

References

, - , - , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Zhou, Qiang 1960 births Living people People's Republic of China politicians from Hubei Tuanpai Politicians from Huanggang Governors of Hunan First Secretaries of the Communist Youth League of China Southwest University of Political Science & Law alumni Presidents of the Supreme People's Court Chinese Communist Party politicians from Hubei People from Huangmei County 20th-century Chinese judges 21st-century Chinese judges