Bayanqolu (; born 5 October 1955) is a Chinese politician of Mongol ethnicity. He served as 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 ...

Jilin Province Jilin (; alternately romanized as Kirin or Chilin) is one of the three provinces of Northeast China. Its capital and largest city is Changchun. Jilin borders North Korea (Rasŏn, North Hamgyong, Ryanggang and Chagang) and Russia (Prim ...

from 2014 to 2020 and the Governor of Jilin from 2012 to 2014; Bayanqolu was, at the time of his appointment, the only ethnic-minority official serving as a provincial-level Party Secretary. Prior to his posts in Jilin province, Bayanqolu was best known for his seven-year term as the Party Secretary of the coastal city of

Ningbo Ningbo (; Ningbonese: ''gnin² poq⁷'' , Standard Mandarin pronunciation: ), formerly romanized as Ningpo, is a major sub-provincial city in northeast Zhejiang province, People's Republic of China. It comprises 6 urban districts, 2 sate ...

, Zhejiang. Bayanqolu was born in

Otog Front Banner Otog Front Banner (Mongolian script: ; ) is a banner of southwestern Inner Mongolia, People's Republic of China, bordering Ningxia to the southwest and Shaanxi province to the southeast. It is under the administration of Ordos City Ordos ( Mon ...

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 ...

. He attended Inner Mongolia Normal University and

University of Jinan The University of Jinan (UJN; ; colloquially 济大, pinyin: Jǐdà), located in Jinan City, Shandong Province, China, is a key and comprehensive provincial university. Enrolling students from all over the world, it offers bachelor, master and ...

, where he obtained a master's degree in economics. He rose through the ranks of 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 ...

in the 1990s before being transferred to work in Zhejiang as vice governor, then as Ningbo party chief.

Early career

Inner Mongolia

Bayanqolu was born in

. His name is a combination of the Mongolian word ''bayan'' (, roughly, "wealth"), and the word ''qolu'' (, "stone"); however he is normally called simply "Bayin" in Mandarin by his friends and colleagues. He began working in 1976 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 the same year. His involvement with the party began when he was a mere 20 years old. From 1980 to 1982 he attended Inner Mongolia Normal University, studying Political Education. In 1985 he was appointed mayor of

Ejin Horo Banner The Ejin Horo Banner, also known as Ejin Horo Qi or Yijinhuoluo County, is a banner in Ordos City in southwestern Inner Mongolia, China. It borders Shaanxi Province to the southeast. As of 2009, the Ejin Horo Banner covers an area of almost , w ...

, and was promoted to

of Ejin Horo in 1988.

Communist Youth League

Bayanqolu became the Deputy Secretary of the

Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region 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 ...

in 1991, and Secretary in 1992, ascending to a department level (''tingjuji'') rank at a mere 36 years of age, the youngest official of that rank in Inner Mongolia at the time. In 1993 he was transferred to work for the League's central organization in Beijing, taking the position of Secretary of the Secretariat of the Central Committee of the Communist Youth League (ranked fifth out of six secretaries), and Executive Secretary in 1998. At the Youth League, Bayanqolu worked under the leadership of

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 ...

and

Zhou Qiang Zhou Qiang (; born 25 April 1960) is a Chinese politician who is the current Chief Justice and President of the Supreme People's Court of China. Previously, he served as the secretary of the Chinese Communist Party's Hunan committee, the effect ...

. From 1994 to 1997, Bayanqolu enrolled in the postgraduate program at the Economics Management Department of

Shandong Shandong ( , ; ; alternately romanized as Shantung) is a coastal province of the People's Republic of China and is part of the East China region. Shandong has played a major role in Chinese history since the beginning of Chinese civilizati ...

province.

Rising through the ranks

Zhejiang Province

In April 2001, Bayanqolu was transferred to coastal

Zhejiang Zhejiang ( or , ; , also romanized as Chekiang) is an eastern, coastal province of the People's Republic of China. Its capital and largest city is Hangzhou, and other notable cities include Ningbo and Wenzhou. Zhejiang is bordered by Jiang ...

province to become its Vice Governor. In December 2003, he was appointed Party Secretary of

, a city with sub-provincial administrative status in Zhejiang, putting him at the rank of a provincial-ministerial official. He remained as top leader of Ningbo until 2010. During his stint in Ningbo Bayanqolu also held a seat on 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 worked directly with then Zhejiang Party 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 ...

. While serving in Ningbo, Bayanqolu's family reportedly continued to live in Beijing. Bayanqolu was said to have lived by himself in a residence converted from a former elementary school, with the mayor of Ningbo and other local politicians being his "flatmates". During his tenure in Ningbo, the overall operating volume of the

Port of Ningbo The Port of Ningbo-Zhoushan is the busiest port in the world in terms of cargo tonnage. It handled 888.96 million tons of cargo in 2015. The port is located in Ningbo and Zhoushan, on the coast of the East China Sea, in Zhejiang province on the ...

grew to be higher than that of the neighbouring sister

Port of Shanghai The Port of Shanghai (), located in the vicinity of Shanghai, comprises a deep-sea port and a river port. The main port enterprise in Shanghai, the Shanghai International Port Group (SIPG), was established during the reconstitution of the S ...

; the average economic growth rates at the time was 16.78% annually, with Ningbo ascending to become one of the most economically competitive cities in mainland China. In spite of his "ethnic" background, Bayanqolu, known locally as "Bayin Secretary", frequently bantered with local journalists, sometimes using words in the

local dialect Local may refer to: Geography and transportation * Local (train), a train serving local traffic demand * Local, Missouri, a community in the United States * Local government, a form of public administration, usually the lowest tier of administra ...

Jilin Province

In August 2010, Bayanqolu was transferred to

Jilin Jilin (; alternately romanized as Kirin or Chilin) is one of the three provinces of Northeast China. Its capital and largest city is Changchun. Jilin borders North Korea (Rasŏn, North Hamgyong, Ryanggang and Chagang) and Russia (Prim ...

province in Northeastern China, where he served as Deputy Party Chief of the province and Chairman of the Jilin

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 ...

. At the time of his Consultative Conference appointment, some commentators suggested that his political career was coming to a close, since the position was often seen as a "retirement home" for esteemed older politicians; however, in some cases (see

He Lifeng He Lifeng (; born February 1955) is a Chinese economist, politician, the current chairman of the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC), and a member of the Politburo of the Chinese Communist Party. Earlier in his career, he worked in ...

Wang Anshun Wang Anshun (; born December 1957) is a Chinese politician who served as Mayor of Beijing between 2012 and 2016, the 15th person to hold the office under Communist Party rule. Wang began his career in geological exploration, then made the transit ...

Chen Qiufa Chen Qiufa (; born December 1954) is a Chinese aerospace engineer and politician of Miao ethnic heritage. He is the Communist Party Secretary and the former Governor of Liaoning province. He formerly served as Director of the China Atomic Energ ...

), the position had served as a "staging ground" for higher office. In December 2012, Bayanqolu was appointed acting Governor of Jilin, succeeding

Wang Rulin Wang Rulin (; born April 1953) is a Chinese politician and senior regional official. He is serving as Vice-Chairperson of the National People's Congress Agriculture and Rural Affairs Committee. From 2014 to 2016, Wang was the Communist Party S ...

, who was promoted to party chief of the province. He was officially confirmed as Governor by the Jilin Provincial Congress in January 2013. Bayanqolu's ascension to governor was notable and was the subject of much fanfare, as he was extremely unusual in being from the Youth League, Zhejiang, and ethnic minority background in a provincial leadership position. In August 2014, Bayanqolu rose one step further. When Jilin party chief

was parachuted to Shanxi to oversee 'reconstruction' following a massive province-wide anti-corruption crackdown, Bayanqolu was given to nod to replace Wang as Jilin party chief. At the time Bayanqolu assumed office as party chief of Jilin, he became the only ethnic-minority party chief of a Chinese province. He also carried with him the unique resume of having served as party chief, governor, People's Congress chair, and Consultative Conference Chair all within a period of less than five years. Additionally, given his Zhejiang experience, Bayanqolu was generally considered to be an associate of Xi Jinping (see

New Zhijiang Army The New Zhijiang Army (), also known as the Xi Jinping faction (), is a term used by observers to represent political figures in the Chinese Communist Party who are closely related to CCP general secretary Xi Jinping, most prominently those who ...

), and was expected to take on even higher office. In December 2020, Banyanqolu was appointed as the Deputy Chairperson of the

National People's Congress Environment Protection and Resources Conservation Committee The National People's Congress Environment Protection and Resources Conservation Committee () is one of nine special committees of the National People's Congress, the national legislature of the People's Republic of China. The special committee ...

. Bayanqolu was an alternate member of the

17th Central Committee of the Communist Party of China 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 ...

. He is a full member of the

18th 18 (eighteen) is the natural number following 17 and preceding 19. In mathematics * Eighteen is a composite number, its divisors being 1, 2, 3, 6 and 9. Three of these divisors (3, 6 and 9) add up to 18, hence 18 is a semiperfect number. ...

and 19th Central Committees.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bayanqolu Living people 1955 births Governors of Jilin Chinese Communist Party politicians from Inner Mongolia People's Republic of China politicians from Inner Mongolia Political office-holders in Zhejiang Chinese people of Mongolian descent People from Ordos City Members of the 18th Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Party Alternate members of the 17th Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Party Members of the 19th Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Party Members of the 8th Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference Members of the Standing Committee of the 9th Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference Delegates to the 13th National People's Congress Delegates to the 12th National People's Congress Jilin University alumni Inner Mongolia Normal University alumni