Sheng Guangzu (; born 5 April 1949) was the last Chinese

Minister of Railways A Ministry of Railways is a Cabinet department that exists or has existed in many Commonwealth states as well as others. It generally occurs in countries where railroad transportation is a particularly important part of the national infrastructure. ...

before the position was abolished in March 2013, and the first Genenal Manager of

China Railway Corporation China State Railway Group Company, Ltd., doing business as China Railway (CR), is the national passenger and freight railroad corporation of the People's Republic of China. China Railway operates passenger and freight transport throughout Ch ...

. He was formerly the head of the

General Administration of Customs The General Administration of Customs (GAC; ) is a ministry-level administrative agency within the government of the People's Republic of China. It is responsible for the collection of value added tax (VAT), customs duties, excise duties, and oth ...

of the

People's Republic of China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by population, most populous country, with a Population of China, population exceeding 1.4 billion, slig ...

. He initially held several lower positions in the Ministry of Railways, and moved up the ranks starting in 2000. Sheng was also a member of the

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

Early life and education

Born in April 1949 in

Nanjing Nanjing (; , Mandarin pronunciation: ), Postal Map Romanization, alternately romanized as Nanking, is the capital of Jiangsu Provinces of China, province of the China, People's Republic of China. It is a sub-provincial city, a megacity, and t ...

Jiangsu Jiangsu (; ; pinyin: Jiāngsū, alternatively romanized as Kiangsu or Chiangsu) is an eastern coastal province of the People's Republic of China. It is one of the leading provinces in finance, education, technology, and tourism, with it ...

, he is a member of the China's majority Han ethnic group and holds a bachelor's degree.

Career

While deputy governor of the Ministry of China Railway Communication, he supported the creation of

China Netcom China Netcom, full name China Netcom Group Corporation (Hong Kong) Limited (former stock codes: HKEX:0906, NYSE:CN), abbreviated CNC, was a telecommunication service provider in People's Republic of China. It was formed in August 1999 by the Chine ...

to compete with

China Telecom China Telecom Corp., Ltd. is a Chinese telecommunications company. It is one of the red chip listed companies of state-owned China Telecommunications Corporation. Its H shares have been traded on the Stock Exchange of Hong Kong since 15 Nove ...

. He became a board member of China Netcom and the Ministry of Railways was given a quarter interest in the company. Sheng replaced his predecessor

Liu Zhijun / ( or ) is an East Asian surname. pinyin: in Mandarin Chinese, in Cantonese. It is the family name of the Han dynasty emperors. The character originally meant 'kill', but is now used only as a surname. It is listed 252nd in the classic text ...

who was dismissed for corruption. During his tenure, the

Wenzhou train collision The Wenzhou train collision occurred on 23 July 2011 when two high-speed trains travelling on the Yong-Tai-Wen railway line collided on a viaduct in Lucheng District, Wenzhou, Zhejiang province, People's Republic of China. The two trains d ...

occurred on July 23, 2011, killing 40, and injuring 192 (12 severely). Sheng retired in October 2016. He was replaced by Lu Dongfu, as the first director of the National Railways Administration (NRA). In November 2016, he was appointed as Vice-Chairperson of the

National People's Congress Financial and Economic Affairs Committee The National People's Congress Financial and Economic Affairs Committee () is one of nine special committees of the National People's Congress, the national legislature of the People's Republic of China China, officially the People's Re ...

Downfall

On 25 March 2022, he was placed under investigation for "serious violations of discipline and laws" 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 pa ...

(CCDI), the party's internal disciplinary body, and the

National Supervisory Commission National Supervisory Commission of the People's Republic of China is the highest anti-corruption agency of the People's Republic of China, at the same administrative ranking as Supreme People's Court and Supreme People's Procuratorate. Its oper ...

, the highest anti-corruption agency of China. On September 19, he was expelled from the

Chinese Communist Party 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 Ci ...

. He was arrested by the

Supreme People's Procuratorate The Supreme People's Procuratorate () is the highest national agency responsible for legal prosecution and investigation in the People's Republic of China. Conceived initially in 1949 as the Supreme People's Prosecutor's Office, the agency was r ...

on October 8.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Sheng, Guangzu 1949 births Living people Tongji University alumni Politicians from Nanjing People's Republic of China politicians from Jiangsu Chinese Communist Party politicians from Jiangsu Chinese people in rail transport Government ministers of the People's Republic of China Expelled members of the Chinese Communist Party