Shen Weichen (; born May 12, 1956) is a former Chinese politician from

Shanxi Shanxi (; ; formerly romanised as Shansi) is a landlocked province of the People's Republic of China and is part of the North China region. The capital and largest city of the province is Taiyuan, while its next most populated prefecture-lev ...

province. During his career he served as the Communist Party Secretary of the city of

Jinzhong Jinzhong, formerly Yuci, is a prefecture-level city in east central Shanxi province of the People's Republic of China, bordering Hebei province to the east. As of the 2020 census, its total population was 3,379,498 inhabitants whom 1,226,617 ...

in Shanxi province, the director of propaganda of Shanxi province, and the Party Secretary of

Taiyuan Taiyuan (; ; ; Mandarin pronunciation: ; also known as (), ()) is the capital and largest city of Shanxi Province, People's Republic of China. Taiyuan is the political, economic, cultural and international exchange center of Shanxi Province. ...

, the provincial capital. In September 2010 Shen was transferred to work for the Central Propaganda Department of the Communist Party under

Liu Yunshan Liu Yunshan (; ; born July 1947) is a retired Chinese politician. He was a member of the Politburo Standing Committee of the Chinese Communist Party, the top decision-making body of the CCP, between 2012 and 2017; he was broadly tasked with the wo ...

. After the 18th Party Congress, Shen became a leading figure in the

China Association for Science and Technology The China Association for Science and Technology (CAST; ) is a mass organization of Chinese scientists and engineers, which is composed of multiple national professional societies and hundreds of branches at various local and international level ...

. He was removed from office in April 2014 by the

Central Commission for Discipline Inspection The Central Commission for Discipline Inspection (CCDI) is the highest internal control institution of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), tasked with enforcing internal rules and regulations and combating corruption and malfeasance in the par ...

(CCDI); Shen himself was a member of the CCDI. His downfall was notable for the CCDI investigating 'one of their own.' He was sentenced to life in prison in 2016.

Career

Shen was born and raised in Lucheng County,

province. Shen entered

Shanxi University Shanxi University (, SXU) is a public university located in the city of Taiyuan, Shanxi province, China. The university was selected into the Double First Class University Plan in February 2022. History Early 1900 The Shansi Imperial Unive ...

in April 1972, majoring in physical education, where he graduated in December 1975. Shen became involved in politics in August 1969 and joined 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 ...

in January 1979. Shen rose through the ranks to become the CPC Party Secretary of

in May 2000. That same year, he was elevated to head the Shanxi Provincial Propaganda Department of the Communist Party. In January 2006, Shen was transferred to

, capital of

Shanxi Province Shanxi (; ; Chinese postal romanization, formerly romanised as Shansi) is a landlocked Provinces of China, province of the China, People's Republic of China and is part of the North China region. The capital and largest city of the province is ...

, and he was appointed the Party Secretary of Taiyuan, a position he held until September 2010. According to Chinese-language media, locals appraisal of Shen's time at the helm of the provincial capital was summed up with the line, "he sold a lot of land, filmed a tv show, and slept with a bunch of women." Shen was allegedly involved in a relationship with a prominent singer from Shanxi province (she was not named in reports). The province's richest man, Zhang Xinming, was reported to have given 5 million yuan (~$812,000) to one of the singer's concerts in order to curry favour with Shen. In September 2010, Shen was transferred to

Beijing } Beijing ( ; ; ), alternatively romanized as Peking ( ), is the capital of the People's Republic of China. It is the center of power and development of the country. Beijing is the world's most populous national capital city, with over 21 ...

and appointed the Deputy Director of the

Propaganda Department of the Chinese Communist Party The Publicity Department of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China, also known as the Propaganda Department or Central Propaganda Department, is an internal division of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) in charge of spreading C ...

, working as the assistant to then-Director

. He remained in that position until April 2013, when he was promoted to become the Party Group Secretary of

, the largest civic organization overseeing work in science and technology in China with a membership of over 430,000. At the 18th Party Congress Shen was also elected as a member of the

18th Central Commission for Discipline Inspection The 18th Central Commission for Discipline Inspection (CCDI) was elected at the 18th National Congress of the Chinese Communist Party on 14 November 2012. Its 1st Plenary Session elected the Secretary, deputy secretaries and the 18th Standing Com ...

Downfall

In February 2014, Shen's former colleague

Jin Daoming Jin Daoming (; born December 1953) is a former Chinese politician who spent his career in Beijing and Shanxi province. Of Manchu people, Manchu descent, Jin worked for China's top Central Commission for Discipline Inspection, anti-corruption body ...

, then the Vice-Chairman of the Shanxi Provincial People's Congress, was held for investigation. It was reported that Jin gave evidence that implicated Shen in corruption. On April 12, 2014, Shen was being investigated by the

for "serious violations of laws and regulations". Shen is the first provincial-ministerial official to be implicated in 2014 as part of the massive anti-corruption campaign following the

18th National Congress of the Chinese Communist Party The 18th National Congress of the Chinese Communist Party was held November 8-15, 2012 at the Great Hall of the People. It was preceded by the 17th National Congress of the Chinese Communist Party. Due to term and age limits restrictions, seven o ...

. He was also the first member of the 18th CCDI itself that was investigated for corruption. In December 2014, Shen was expelled from the Chinese Communist Party. The party investigation concluded that Shen "abused his power for the illicit gain of others, took massive bribes, received gifts of cash, and committed adultery." His case was forwarded to judicial authorities for prosecution. Shen was sentenced for life in prison for bribery on October 11, 2016.

Personal life

Shen spent much of his career in sports administration, and excelled at sports. He was known to be warm, good-looking, and extraordinarily talkative, often giving lengthy speeches at meetings. Shen is tall. Shen was fond of Shanxi history, and was instrumental in planning and filming the 2006 television series '' Qiao's Grand Courtyard'', as well as the series ''Eighth Route Army'' and ''Luliang Heroes'' ().

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Shen, Weichen 1956 births Politicians from Changzhi Shanxi University alumni Living people Chinese Communist Party politicians from Shanxi People's Republic of China politicians from Shanxi Chinese politicians convicted of corruption