Che Dalha (; born August 1958), also romanized as Che Zala and Qizhala (), is a Chinese politician of

Tibetan Tibetan may mean: * of, from, or related to Tibet * Tibetan people, an ethnic group * Tibetan language: ** Classical Tibetan, the classical language used also as a contemporary written standard ** Standard Tibetan, the most widely used spoken diale ...

ethnicity who served as Chairman (Governor) of

Tibet Autonomous Region The Tibet Autonomous Region or Xizang Autonomous Region, often shortened to Tibet or Xizang, is a province-level autonomous region of the People's Republic of China in Southwest China. It was overlayed on the traditional Tibetan regions ...

between January 2017 and October 2021. Originally from

Yunnan Yunnan , () is a landlocked province in the southwest of the People's Republic of China. The province spans approximately and has a population of 48.3 million (as of 2018). The capital of the province is Kunming. The province borders the ...

province, he served as Communist Party Secretary of the Tibetan capital

Lhasa Lhasa (; Lhasa dialect: ; bo, text=ལྷ་ས, translation=Place of Gods) is the urban center of the prefecture-level Lhasa City and the administrative capital of Tibet Autonomous Region in Southwest China. The inner urban area of Lhasa ...

between 2012 and 2017. Since October 2017, he is the member of the

Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Party 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 ...

Career

Che Dalha was born in

Zhongdian County Shangri-La (, Tibetan: Gyalthang) is a county-level city in Northwestern Yunnan Province, People's Republic of China and is the location of the seat of the Dêqên Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture, bordering Sichuan to the northwest, north, and e ...

(later renamed Shangri-La). He left school at age 10 to herd animals in his home village. He completed primary school and high school by teaching himself. In 1979, he participated in the civil service examinations of Zhongdian County with good results, and was given a minor post in 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 ...

as a rural functionary. In 1983, the 25-year-old Che Dalha became the Communist Youth League Secretary of Zhongdian County. He would progressively ascend the ranks of the Communist Party hierarchy, serving as the Deputy Party Secretary, then Party Secretary of Zhongdian County. Between 1994 and 2001, Che Dalha was instrumental in bringing the "Shangri-la" brand to life in Zhongdian County, making the area a major tourist destination. In 2001, the year he was promoted to Governor of the

Dêqên Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture Dêqên Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture, also known as Diqing Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture (; ) is an autonomous prefecture in Northwestern Yunnan Province, China. It has an area of . Its capital, which is also the largest city in the prefecture, ...

, Zhongdian County was officially renamed Shangri-La by directive of the State Council. In 1996 he attended to

Yunnan Nationalities University Yunnan Nationalities University () is located in 121 Yi Er Yi Da Jie, Wuhua Qu, Kunming, Yunnan, China. History Formerly known as Yunnan Nationalities Institute when established on August 1, 1951, the university was founded in part to instruct go ...

, and graduated in 1998 with a degree in economic management specializing in ethnic minority affairs; he also has a bachelor's degree from the Central Party School in political and legal affairs. In Dêqên, Che Dalha was credited with making the region the "best Tibetan region in China" as documented by Chinese official sources. He was elected a provincial party standing committee member in Yunnan province in 2010, ascending to sub-provincial ranks. In September 2010, Che Dalha was appointed as the Head of the United Front Work Department in

, and he was elected as the Vice Chairman of the Tibet People's Political Consultative Conference in 2011. In 2012, he was appointed as the Party Secretary of Tibetan capital

; the move was welcomed by some Lhasa residents because Che Dalha had replaced a Han Chinese, Qin Yizhi, in the post. In his capacity as party chief of Lhasa, he visited Chicago and met with U.S. Senator

Mark Kirk Mark Steven Kirk (born September 15, 1959) is a retired American politician and attorney who served as a United States senator from Illinois from 2010 to 2017, and as the United States representative for Illinois's 10th congressional district fr ...

. His tenure in Lhasa was largely defined by the modernization of the cityscape. On 15 January 2017, Che Dalha was appointed Chairman of Tibet Autonomous Region, succeeding

Losang Jamcan Losang Jamcan, also spelled Losang Gyaltsen (; ; born July 1957), is a Chinese politician of Tibetan ethnicity. He is the President of Tibet Autonomous Region People's Congress Standing Committee, and former Chairman (governor) of Tibet Autonomou ...

. He was the ninth ethnic Tibetan to assume the post after the conclusion of the Cultural Revolution, and the first Chairman from Yunnan province. He was additionally the first Chairman of the region to have not been born in the Tibet Autonomous Region in some twenty years. On 23 October 2021, he was appointed vice chairperson of the National People's Congress Ethnic Affairs Committee.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Che Dalha Living people 1958 births Chinese Communist Party politicians from Yunnan People's Republic of China politicians from Yunnan Political office-holders in Tibet Political office-holders in Yunnan Members of the 19th Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Party Delegates to the 10th National People's Congress