Shen Yiqin (; born 15 December 1959) is a Chinese politician of Bai ethnic heritage. She 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 ...

Guizhou Guizhou (; formerly Kweichow) is a landlocked province in the southwest region of the People's Republic of China. Its capital and largest city is Guiyang, in the center of the province. Guizhou borders the autonomous region of Guangxi to t ...

, a province in southwestern China, between November 2020 and December 2022. Shen is the third female provincial-level party chief since the founding of the People's Republic of China in 1949 after

Wan Shaofen Wan Shaofen (; born August 1930) is a retired Chinese politician who served as Communist Party Secretary of Jiangxi Province from 1985 to 1988, the first female provincial-level party chief of the People's Republic of China. Her career was close ...

and current Vice Premier Sun Chunlan.

Career

Shen was born in

Zhijin County Zhijin County is a county under the administration of the prefecture-level city of Bijie in west-central Guizhou province, China. History Zhijin has been inhabited since the Qin, populated mainly by the Gelao. After the Jin, the Yi moved in ...

, Guizhou. Shen belonged to a group of

sent-down youth The sent-down, rusticated, or "educated" youth (), also known as the ''zhiqing'', were the young people who—beginning in the 1950s until the end of the Cultural Revolution, willingly or under coercion—left the urban districts of the ...

in the latter years of 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 ...

. After the Cultural Revolution ended, she began studying history at

Guizhou University Guizhou University (; Pinyin: Guìzhōu Dàxué), known as Guida (贵大 Guì Dà), is a provincial research university located in suburban Guiyang, capital of Guizhou, China. Founded in 1902, it is the flagship institution of higher learning i ...

. After graduating, she was sent to work for the provincial party school in Guizhou as a lecturer. She later became a human resources manager there. In 1998, she became vice president of the Guizhou party school. In 1999 she became Vice Chair of the Guizhou Social Sciences Academic Association. In December 2001, Shen became deputy party chief of

Qiannan Buyei and Miao Autonomous Prefecture Qiannan Buyei and Miao Autonomous Prefecture (; Buyei: ''Qianfnanf Buxqyaix Buxyeeuz ziqziqzouy''; Hmu: ''Qeef Naif Dol Yat Dol Hmub Zid Zid Zeb'') is an autonomous prefecture of Guizhou province, People's Republic of China, bordering Guangxi to ...

, then deputy party chief and head commissioner (mayor) of

Tongren Tongren () is a prefecture-level city in eastern Guizhou province, People's Republic of China, located within a tobacco planting and crop agricultural area. Tongren was known as Tongren Prefecture () until November 2011, when it was converted into ...

. In April 2007, Shen became a member of 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 ...

of Guizhou and head of the provincial party propaganda department. In May 2012, she was named Executive Vice Governor of Guizhou. In April 2015 she became Deputy Party Secretary of Guizhou and Secretary of Political and Legal Affairs Commission (''Zhengfawei'') of Guizhou. At the time of her appointment to the deputy party chief position, she became the second sitting female ''zhuanzhi'' deputy party secretary in the country, and the only female provincial ''Zhengfawei'' chief in the country. In September 2017, Shen was appointed as the acting Governor of Guizhou. Shen Yiqin is the first female Governor of Guizhou, the first Governor of Bai ethnic heritage, and the first Governor to have been born in province since 1993. In November 2020, Shen was appointed as the CCP Secretary of Guizhou. Shen was an alternate member of the 17th and 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. ...

Central Committees of the Chinese Communist Party, and is a full member of the 19th Central Committee.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Shen, Yiqin Guizhou University alumni 1959 births Living people Governors of Guizhou People from Bijie Bai people Alternate members of the 17th Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Party Alternate members of the 18th Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Party Members of the 19th Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Party Members of the 20th Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Party 21st-century Chinese women politicians 21st-century Chinese politicians